N  VERS  TY  OF  CA  RIVERSIDE    LIBRARY 

3  1210018172583 


FRANK  R,  STOCKTON 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


FROM  THE  LIBRARY 

OF 
DR.  J.  LLOYD  EATON 


Ih 


/*•  " 

IE&  ,  _ 


*>•  1 

* 


^KIP  ^fe.^"T^  'ifes.'lkr^  ^V^^^lt 


?,i?SBSi! 


TING-A-LING    TALES. 


FRANK    R/  STOCKTON, 
v\i 

AUTHOR   OF  "  RUDDER   GRANGE,"  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  E.   B.   BENSELL. 


LONDON : 

WARD   AND   DOWNEY,    PUBLISHERS, 

12,  YORK  STREET,  COVENT  GARDEN. 

1890. 


To  THB 

MEMORY    OF   ALL 

GOOD   GIANTS,    DWARFS,   AND   FAIRIES, 

(Tin's   15oofc 
18   GRATEFULLY  DEDICATED. 


TING-A-LING. 


IN  a  far  country  of  the  East,  in  a  palace  sur 
rounded  by  orange  groves,  where  the  nightingales 
sang,  and  by  silvery  lakes,  where  the  soft  fountains 
plashed,  there  lived  a  fine  old  king.  For  many  years 
he  had  governed  with  great  comfort  to  himself,  and 
to  the  tolerable  satisfaction  of  his  subjects.  His 
queen  being  dead,  his  whole  affection  was  given  to 
his  only  child,  the  Princess  Aufalia;  and,  whenever 
he  happened  to  think  of  it,  he  paid  great  attention 
to  her  education.  She  had  the  best  masters  of 
embroidery  and  in  the  language  of  flowers,  and  she 
took  lessons  on  the  zilhar  three  times  a  week. 

A  suitable  husband,  the  son  of  a  neighboring 
monarch,  had  been  selected  for  her  when  she  was 
about  two  hours  old,  thus  making  it  unnecessary 
for  her  to  go  into  society,  and  she  consequently 
passed  her  youthful  days  in  almost  entire  seclusion. 
She  was  now,  when  our  story  begins,  a  woman 
more  beautiful  than  the  roses  of  the  garden,  more 
l 


2  TING-A-LING. 

musical  than  the  nightingales,  and  far  more  grace 
ful  than  the  plashing  fountains. 

One  balmy  day  in  spring,  when  the  hirds  were 
singing  lively  songs  on  the  trees,  and  the  crocuses 
were  coaxing  the  jonquils  almost  off  their  very 
stems  with  their  pretty  ways,  Aufalia  went  out  to 
take  a  little  promenade,  followed  by  two  grim 
slaves.  Closely  veiled,  she  walked  in  the  secluded 
suburbs  of  the  town,  where  she  was  generally 


required  to  take  her  lonely  exercise.  To-day, 
however,  the  slaves,  impelled  by  a  sweet  tooth, 
which  each  of  them  possessed,  thought  it  would 
be  no  harm  if  they  went  a  little  out  of  their  way 
to  procure  some  sugared  cream-beans,  which  were 
made  excellently  well  by  a  confectioner  near  the 
outskirts  of  the  city.  While  they  were  in  the 
shop,  bargaining  for  the  sugar-beans,  a  young 
man  who  was  passing  thereby  stepped  up  to  the 


TING-A-LING.  3 

Princess,  and  asked  her  if  she  could  tell  him  the 
shortest  road  to  the  baths,  and  if  there  was  a 
good  eating-house  in  the  neighborhood.  Now 
as  this  was  the  first  time  in  her  life  that  the 
Princess  had  been  addressed  by  a  young  man,  it 
is  not  surprising  that  she  was  too  much  aston 
ished  to  speak,  especially  as  this  youth  was  well 
dressed,  extremely  handsome,  and  of  proud  and 
dignified  manners,  —  although,  to  be  sure,  a 
little  travel-stained  and  tired-looking. 

When  she  had  somewhat  recovered  from  her 
embarrassment,  she  raised  her  veil,  (as  if  it  was 
necessary  to  do  so  in  speaking  to  a  young  man !) 
and  told  him  that  she  was  sure  she  had  not  the 
slightest  idea  where  any  place  in  the  city  was,  — 
that  she  very  seldom  went  into  the  city,  and  never 
thought  about  the  way  to  any  place  when  she 
did  go,  —  that  she  wished  she  knew  where  those 
places  were  that  he  mentioned,  for  she  would 
very  much  like  to  tell  him,  especially  if  he  was 
hungry,  which  she  knew  was  not  pleasant,  and 
no  doubt  he  was  not  used  to  it,  but  that  indeed  she 
hadn't  any  idea  about  the  way  anywhere,  but  — 

There  is  no  knowing  how  long  the  Princess 
might  have  run  on  thus  (and  her  veil  up  all  the 
time)  had  not  the  two  slaves  at  that  moment 


4  TING-A-LIXG. 

emerged  from  the  sugar- bean  shop.  The  sight 
of  the  Princess  actually  talking  to  a  young  man 
in  the  broad  daylight  so  amazed  them,  that  they 
stood  for  a  moment  dumb  in  the  door.  But,  re 
covering  from  their  surprise,  they  drew  their 
cimeters,  and  ran  toward  the  Prince  (for  such 
his  every  action  proclaimed  him  to  be).  When 
this  high-born  personage  saw  them  coming  with 
drawn  blades,  his  countenance  flushed,  and  his 


eyes  sparkled  with  rage.  Drawing  his  flashing 
sword,  he  shouted,  "Crouch,  varlets !  Lie  with 
the  dust,  ye  dogs  !  "  and  sprang  furiously  upon 
them. 

The   impetuosity  of  the  onslaught  caused  the 
two  men  to  pause,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they  fell 


TING-A-LING.  5 

back  some  yards,  so  fast  and  heavy  did  the  long 
sword  clash  upon  their  upraised  cimeters.  This 
contest  was  soon  over,  for,  unaccustomed  to  such 
a  vigorous  method  of  attack,  the  slaves  turned 
and  fled,  and  the  Prince  pursued  them  down  a 
long  street,  and  up  an  alley,  and  over  a  wall,  and 
through  a  garden,  and  under  an  arch,  and  over 
a  court-yard,  and  through  a  gate,  and  down 
another  street,  and  up  another  alley,  and  through 
a  house,  and  up  a  long  staircase,  and  out  upon 
a  roof,  and  over  several  abutments,  and  down  a 
trap-door,  and  down  another  pair  of  stairs,  and 
through  another  house,  into  another  garden,  and 
over  another  wall,  and  down  a  long  road,  and 
over  a  field,  clear  out  of  sight. 

When  the  Prince  had  performed  this  feat,  he 
sat  down  to  rest,  but,  suddenly  bethinking  him 
self  of  the  maiden,  he  rose  and  went  to  look  for 
her. 

"  I  have  chased  away  her  servants,"  said  he ; 
"  how  will  she  ever  find  her  way  anywhere  ?  " 

If  this  was  difficult  for  her,  the  Prince  found 
that  it  was  no  less  so  for  himself;  and  he  spent 
much  time  in  endeavoring  to  reach  again  the 
northern  suburbs  of  the  city.  At  last,  after  con 
siderable  walking,  he  reached  the  long  street  into 


6  TING-A-LING. 

which  he  had  first  chased  the  slaves,  and,  finding 
a  line  of  children  eagerly  devouring  a  line  of 
sugared  cream-beans,  he  remembered  seeing  these 
confections  dropping  from  the  pockets  of  the 
slaves  as  he  pursued  them,  and,  following  up  the 
clew,  soon  reached  the  shop,  and  found  the  Prin 
cess  sitting  under  a  tree  before  the  door.  The 
shop-keeper,  knowing  her  to  be  the  Princess,  had 
been  afraid  to  speak  to  her,  and  was  working 


away  inside,  making  believe  that  he  had  not  seen 
her,  and  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  conflict 
which  had  taken  place  before  his  door. 

Up  jumped  Aufalia.  "  O !  I  am  so  glad  to 
see  you  again  !  I  have  been  waiting  here  ever 
so  long.  But  what  have  you  done  with  my 
slaves  ?  " 

"  I  am  your  slave,"  said  the  Prince,  bowing 
to  the  ground. 


TING-A-LING.  7 

"  But  you  don't  know  the  way  home,"  said  she, 
and  I  am  dreadfully  hungry." 

Having1  ascertained  from  her  that  she  was  the 
King's  daughter,  and  lived  at  the  palace,  the 
Prince  reflected  for  a  moment,  and  then,  entering 
the  shop,  dragged  forth  the  maker  of  sugared 
cream-beans,  and  ordered  him  to  lead  the  way 
to  the  presence  of  the  King.  The  confectioner, 
crouching  to  the  earth,  immediately  started  off, 
and  the  Prince  and  Princess,  side  by  side,  followed 
over  what  seemed  to  them  a  very  short  road  to 
the  palace.  The  Princess  talked  a  great  deal, 
but  the  Prince  was  rather  quiet.  He  had  a  good 
many  things  to  think  about.  He  was  the  younger 
son  of  a  king  who  lived  far  away  to  the  north, 
and  had  been  obliged  to  flee  the  kingdom  on 
account  of  the  custom  of  allowing  only  one  full- 
grown  heir  to  the  throne  to  live  in  the  country. 

"  Now,"  thought  he,  "  this  is  an  excellent  com 
mencement  of  my  adventures.  Here  is  a  truly 
lovely  Princess  whom  I  am  conducting  to  her 
anxious  parent.  He  will  be  overwhelmed  with 
gratitude,  and  will  doubtless  bestow  upon  me  the 
government  of  a  province  —  or  —  perhaps  he  will 
make  me  his  Vizier  —  no,  I  will  not  accept  that, 
—  the  province  will  suit  me  better."  Having  set- 


8  TING-A-LING. 

tied  this  little  matter  to  his  mind,  he  gladdened 
the  heart  of  the  Princess  with  the  dulcet  tones 
of  his  gentle  voice. 

On  reaching  the  palace,  they  went  directly  1o 
the  grand  hall,  where  the  King  was  giving  audi 
ence.  Justly  astounded  at  perceiving  his  daugh 
ter  (now  veiled)  approaching  under  the  guidance 
of  a  crouching  sugar-beau  maker  and  a  strange 
young  man,  he  sat  in  silent  amazement,  until 
the  Prince,  who  was  used  to  court  life,  had  made 
his  manners,  and  related  his  story.  When  the 
King  had  heard  it,  he  clapped  his  hands  three 
times,  and  in  rushed  twenty-four  eunuchs. 

"  Taker"  said  the  monarch,  "  this  bird  to  her 
bower."  And  they  surrounded  the  Princess,  and 
hurried  her  off  to  the  women's  apartments. 

Then  he  clapped  his  hands  twice,  and  in  rushed 
twenty-four  armed  guards  from  another  door. 

"  Bind  me  this  dog !  "  quoth  the  King,  point 
ing  to  the  Prince.  And  they  bound  him  in  a 
twinkling. 

"  Is  tins  the  way  you  treat  a  stranger  ?  "  cried 
the  Prince. 

"Aye,"  said  the  King,  merrily.  "We  will 
treat  you  royally.  You  are  tired.  To-night  and 
to-morrow  you  shall  be  lodged  and  feasted  daintily, 


TIXG-A-LIXG. 


9 


and  the  day  after  we  will  have  a  celebration, 
when  you  shall  be  beaten  with  sticks,  and  shall 
fight  a  tiger,  and  be  tossed  by  a  bull,  and  be 
bowstrung,  and  beheaded,  and  drawn  and  quar 
tered,  and  we  will  have  a  nice  time.  Bear  him 
away  to  his  soft  conch." 


The  guards  then  led  the  Prince  away  to  be 
kept  a  prisoner  until  the  day  for  the  celebration. 
The  room  to  which  he  was  conducted  was  com 
fortable,  and  he  soon  had  «  plenteous  supper  laid 
out  before  him,  of  which  he  partook  with  great 
avidity.  Having  finished  his  meal,  he  sat  down 


10  TING-A-LING. 

to  reflect  upon  his  condition,  but  feeling  very 
sleepy,  and  remembering  that  he  would  have  a 
whole  day  of  leisure,  to-morrow,  for  such  reflec 
tions,  he  concluded  to  go  to  bed.  Before  doing 
so,  however,  he  wished  to  make  all  secure  for  the 
night.  Examining  the  door,  he  found  there  was 
no  lock  to  it;  and  being  unwilling  to  remain  all 
night  liable  to  intrusion,  he  pondered  the  matter 
for  some  minutes,  and  then  took  up  a  wide  and 
very  heavy  stool,  and,  having  partially  opened  the 
door,  he  put  the  stool  up  over  it,  resting  it  partly 
on  the  door  and  partly  oil  the  surrounding  wood 
work,  so  that  if  any  one  tried  to  come  in,  and 
pushed  the  door  open,  the  stool  would  fall  dowc 
and  knock  the  intruder's  head  off.  Having  ar 
ranged  this  to  his  satisfaction,  the  Prince  went  to 
bed. 

That  evening  the  Princess  Aufalia  was  in  great 
grief,  for  she  had  heard  of  the  sentence  pro 
nounced  upon  the  Prince,  and  felt  herself  the 
cause  of  it.  What  other  reason  she  had  to  grieve 
over  the  Prince's  death,  need  not  be  told.  Her 
handmaidens  fully  sympathized  with  her;  and 
one  of  them,  Nerraliua,  the  handsomest  and  most 
energetic  of  them  all,  soon  found,  by  proper 
inquiry,  that  the  Prince  was  confined  in  the  fourth 


T1NG-A-LIXG. 


11 


story  of  the  "  Tower  of  Tears."  So  they  devised 
a  scheme  for  his  rescue.  Each  one  of  the  young 
ladies  contributed  her  scarf;  and  when  they  were 
all  tied  tog-ether,  the  conclave  decided  that  they 
made  a  rope  plenty  long  enough  to  reach  from 
the  Prince's  window  to  the  ground. 

Thus  much  settled,  it  only  remained  to  get  this 


means  of  escape  to  the  prisoner.  This  the  lady 
Nerralina  volunteered  to  do.  Waiting  until  the 
dead  of  night,  she  took  off  her  slippers,  and  with 


12  TING-A-LING. 

the  scarf-rope  rolled  up  into  a  ball  under  her  arm, 
she  silently  stepped  past  the  drowsy  sentinels, 
and,  reaching  the  Prince's  room,  pushed  open 
the  door,  and  the  stool  fell  down  and  knocked 
her  head  off.  Her  body  lay  in  the  doorway,  but 
her  head  rolled  into  the  middle  of  the  room. 

Notwithstanding  the  noise  occasioned  by  this 
accident,  the  Prince  did  not  awake;  but  in  the 
morning,  when  he  was  up  and  nearly  dressed,  he 
was  astonished  at  seeing  a  lady's  head  in  the 
middle  of  the  room. 

"  Hallo  !  "  said  he.     "  Here's  somebody's  head." 

Picking  it  up,  he  regarded  it  with  considerable 
interest.  Then  seeing  the  body  in  the  doorway, 
he  put  the  head  and  it  together,  and,  finding  they 
fitted,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  belonged 
to  each  other,  and  that  the  stool  had  done  the  mis 
chief.  When  he  saw  the  bundle  of  scarfs  lying  by 
the  body,  he  unrolled  it,  and  soon  imagined  the 
cause  of  the  lady's  visit. 

"  Poor  thing  !  "  he  said  ;  "  doubtless  the  Prin 
cess  sent  her  here  with  this,  and  most  likely  with 
a  message  also,  which  now  I  shall  never  hear. 
But  these  poor  women  !  what  do  they  know  ?  This 
rope  will  not  bear  a  man  like  me.  Well !  well ! 
this  poor  girl  is  dead.  I  will  pay  respect  to  her." 


TLNG-A-LING. 


13 


And  so  he  picked  her  up,  and  put  her  on  his 
bed,  thinking  at  the  time  that  she  must  have 
fainted  when  she  heard  the  stool  coming,  for  no 
blood  had  flowed.  He  fitted  on  the  head,  and  then 
he  covered  her  up  with  the  sheet ;  but,  in  pulling 


this  over  her  head,  he  uncovered  her  feet,  which 
he  now  perceived  to  be  slipperless. 

"  No  shoes  !  Ah  me !  Well,  I  will  be  polite  to 
a  lady,  even  if  she  is  dead." 

And  so  he  drew  off  his  own  yellow  boots,  and 
put  them  on  her  feet,  which  was  easy  enough,  as 
they  were  a  little  too  big  for  her.  He  had  hardly 
done  this,  and  dressed  himself,  when  he  heard  some 


14  TING-A-LING. 

• 

one  approaching ;  and  hastily  removing  the  fallen 
stool,  he  got  behind  the  door  just  as  a  fat  old 
fellow  entered  with  a  broadsword  in  one  hand, 
and  a  pitcher  of  hot  water  and  some  towels  in  the 
other.  Glancing  at  the  bed,  and  seeing  the  yellow 
boots  sticking  out,  the  old  fellow  muttered  :  "  Gone 
to  bed  with  his  clothes  on,  eh?  Well,  I'll  let  him 
sleep !  "  And  so,  putting  down  the  pitcher  and 
the  towels,  he  walked  out  again.  But  not  alone, 
for  the  Prince  silently  stepped  after  him,  and  by 
keeping  close  behind  him,  followed  without  being 
heard,  —  his  politeness  having  been  the  fortunate 
cause  of  his  being  in  his  stocking-feet.  For  some 
distance  they  walked  together  thus,  the  Prince 
intending  to  slip  oif  at  the  first  cross  passage  ho 
came  to.  It  was  quite  dusky  in  the  long  hall  way, 
there  being  no  windows ;  and  when  the  guard,  at  a 
certain  place,  made  a  very  wide  step,  taking  hold 
of  a  rod  by  Ihe  side  of  the  wall  as  he  did  so,  the 
Prince,  not  perceiving  this,  walked  straight  on, 
and  popped  right  down  an  open  trap-door. 

Nerralina  not  returning,  the  Princess  was  in 
great  grief,  not  knowing  at  first  whether  she  had 
eloped  with  the  Prince,  or  had  met  with  some 
misfortune  on  the  way  to  his  room.  In  the 
morning,  however,  the  ladies  ascertained  that  the 


TDCG-A-LING.  15 

rope  was  not  hanging  from  the  Prince's  window; 
and  as  the  guards  reported  that  he  was  comfort 
ably  sleeping  in  his  bed,  it  was  unanimously  con 
cluded  that  Nerralina  had  been  discovered  in  her 
attempt,  and  had  come  to  grief.  Sorrowing  bit 
terly,  somewhat  for  tbe  unknown  mishap  of  her 
maid  of  honor,  but  still  more  for  the  now  certain 
fate  of  him  she  loved,  Aufalia  went  into  the  gar 
den,  and,  making  her  way  through  masses  of  rose- 
trees  and  jasmines,  to  the  most  secluded  part  of 
the  grounds,  threw  herself  upon  a  violet  bank  and 
wept  unrestrainedly,  the  tears  rolling  one  by  one 
from  her  eyes,  like  a  continuous  string  of  pearls. 

Now  it  so  happened  that  this  spot  was  the 
pleasure  ground  of  a  company  of  fairies,  who  had 
a  colony  near  by.  These  fairies  were  about  an 
inch  and  a  half  high,  beautifully  formed,  and  of 
the  most  respectable  class.  They  had  not  been 
molested  for  years  by  any  one  coming  to  this  spot; 
but  as  they  knew  perfectly  well  who  the  Princess 
was,  they  were  not  at  all  alarmed  at  her  appear 
ance.  In  fact,  the  sight  of  her  tears  rolling  so 
prettily  down  into  the  violet  cups,  and  over  the 
green  leaves,  seemed  to  please  them  much,  and 
many  of  the  younger  ones  took  up  a  tear  or  two 
upon  their  shoulders  to  take  home  with  them. 


1(5  TING-A-LING. 

There  was  one  youth,  the  handsomest  of  them 
all,  named  Ting-a-ling,  who  had  a  beautiful  little 
sweetheart  called  Ling-a-ting. 

Each  one  of  these  lovers,  when  they  were  about 
to  return  to  their  homes,  picked  up  the  prettiest 
tear  they  could  find.  Ting-a-ling  put  his  tear 
upon  his  shoulder,  and  walked  along  as  gracefully 
as  an  Egyptian  woman  with  her  water-jug ;  while 
little  Ling-a-ting,  with  her  treasure  borne  lightly 
over  her  head,  skipped  by  her  lover's  side,  as  happy 
as  happy  could  be. 

"  Don't  walk  out  in  the  sun,  my  dearest,"  said 
Ting-a-ling.  "  Your  shin-shiney  will  burst." 

"Burst!  0  no,  Tingy  darling,  no  it  won't.  See 
how  nice  and  big  it  is  getting,  and  so  light ! 
Look !  "  cried  she,  throwing  back  her  head ;  "  I 
can  see  the  sky  through  it ;  and  0  !  what  pretty 
colors,  —  blue,  green,  pink,  and  "  —  And  the  tear 
burst,  and  poor  little  Ling-a-ting  sunk  down  on 
the  grass,  drenched  and  drowned. 

Horror-stricken,  Ting-a-ling  dropped  his  tear 
and  wept.  Clasping  his  hands  above  his  head,  he 
fell  on  his  knees  beside  his  dear  one,  and  raised 
his  eyes  to  the  blue  sky  in  bitter  anguish.  But 
when  he  cast  them  down  again,  little  Ling-a-ting 
was  all  soaked  into  the  grass.  Then  sterner  feel- 


TIXG-A-LING.  17 

ings  filled  his  breast,  and  revenge  stirred  up  tte 
depths  of  his  soul. 

"  This  thing  shall  end  ! "  he  said,  hissing  the 
words  between  his  teeth.  "  No  more  of  us  shall 
die  like  Ling-a-ting  !  " 

So  he  ran  quickly,  and  with  his  little  sword  cut 
down  two  violets,  and  of  the  petals  he  made  two 
little  soft  bundles,  and,  tying  them  together  with 
his  garters,  he  slung  them  over  his  shoulder.  Full 
of  his  terrible  purpose,  he  then  ran  to  the  Prin 
cess,  and,  going  behind  her,  clambered  up  her 
dress  until  he  stood  on  her  shoulder,  and,  getting 
on  the  top  of  her  head,  he  loosened  a  long  hair, 
and  lowered  himself  down  with  it,  until  he  stood 
upon  the  under  lashes  of  her  left  eye.  Now,  his 
intention  was  evident.  Those  violet  bundles  were 
to  "  end  this  thing."  They  were  to  be  crammed 
into  the  source  of  those  fatal  tears,  to  the  beauty 
of  which  poor  Ling-a-ting  had  fallen  a  victim. 

"  Now  we  shall  see,"  said  he,  "  if  some  things 
cannot  be  done  as  well  as  others !  "  and,  kneel 
ing  down,  he  took  one  bundle  from  his  shoulder, 
and  prepared  to  put  it  in  her  eye.  It  is  true, 
that,  occupying  the  position  he  did,  he,  in  some 
measure,  obstructed  the  lady's  vision  ;  but  as  her 
eyes  had  been  so  long  dimmed  with  tears,  and  her 


18  TING-A-LING. 

heart  overshadowed  with  sorrow,  she  did  not  no 
tice  it. 

Just  as  Tiug-a-ling  was  about  to  execute  his 
purpose,  he  happened  to  look  before  him,  and  saw, 
to  his  amazement,  another  little  fairy  on  his  knees, 
right  in  front  of  him.  Starting  back,  he  dropped 
the  bundle  from  his  hand,  and  the  other  from  his 
shoulder.  Then,  upon  his  hands  and  knees,  he 
stared  steadfastly  at  the  little  man  opposite  to 
him,  who  immediately  imitated  him.  And  there 
they  knelt  with  equal  wonder  in  each  of  their 
countenances,  bobbing  at  each  other  every  time 
the  lady  winked.  Then  did  Ting-a-ling  get  very 
red  in  the  face,  and,  standing  erect,  he  took  strong 
hold  of  the  Princess's  upper  eyelash,  to  steady 
himself,  resolved  upon  giving  that  saucy  fairy  a 
good  kick,  when,  to  his  dismay,  the  eyelash  came 
out,  he  lost  his  balance,  and  at  the  same  moment 
a  fresh  shower  of  tears  burst  from  her  eyes,  which 
washed  Ting-a-ling  senseless  into  her  lap. 

When  he  recovered,  he  was  still  sticking  to  the 
Princess's  silk  apron,  all  unobserved,  as  she  sat  in 
her  own  room  talking  to  one  of  her  maids,  who 
had  just  returned  from  a  long  visit  into  the  coun 
try.  Slipping  down  to  the  floor,  Ting-a-ling  ran 
all  shivering  to  the  window,  to  the  scat  of  which 


TIXG-A-MXG.  19 

he  climbed,  and  getting  upon  a  chrysanthemum 
that  was  growing  in  a  flower-pot  in  the  sunshine, 
he  took  off  his  shoes  and  stockings,  and,  hanging 
them  on  a  branch  to  dry,  laid  down  in  the  warm 
blossom ;  and  while  he  w*as  drying,  listened  to  the 
mournful  tale  that  Aufalia  was  telling  her  maid, 
about  the  poor  Prince  that  was  to  die  to-morrow. 
The  more  he  heard,  the  more  was  his  tender  heart 
touched  with  pity,  and,  forgetting  all  his  resent 
ment  against  the  Princess,  he  felt  only  the  deep 
est  sympathy  for  her  misfortunes,  and  those  of  her 
lover.  When  she  had  finished,  Ting-a-ling  had 
resolved  to  assist  them,  or  die  in  the  attempt ! 

But,  as  he  could  not  do  much  himself,  he  in 
tended  instantly  to  lay  their  case  before  a  Giant 
of  his  acquaintance,  whose  good-humor  and  benev 
olence  were  proverbial.  So  he  put  on  his  shoes 
and  stockings,  which  were  not  quite  dry,  and  has 
tily  descended  to  the  garden  by  means  of  a  vine 
which  grew  upon  the  wall.  The  distance  to  the 
Giant's  castle  was  too  great  for  him  to  think  of 
walking  ;  and  he  hurried  around  to  a  friend  of  his 
who  kept  a  livery-stable.  When  he  reached  this 
place,  he  found  his  friend  sitting  in  his  stable-door, 
and  behind  him  Ting-a-ling  could  see  the  long 
rows  of  stalls,  with  all  the  butterflies  on  one  side, 
and  the  grasshoppers  on  the  other. 


20  TING-A-LING. 

"  How  do  you  do  ?  "  said  Ting-a-ling,  seating 
himself  upon  a  horse-block,  and  wiping  his  face. 
"  It  is  a  hot  day,  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  livery-stable  man,  who  was 
rounder  and  shorter  than  Tiug-a-ling.  "  Yes,  it 
is  very  warm.  I  haven't  been  out  to-day." 

"  Well,  I  shouldn't  advise  you  to  go,"  said  Ting- 
a-ling.  "  But  I  must  to  business,  for  I'm  in  a 
great  hurry.  Have  you  a  fast  butterfly  that  you 
can  let  me  have  right  away  ?  " 

"  0  yes,  two  or  three  of  them,  for  that  matter." 

"  Have  you  that  one,"  asked  Ting-a-ling,  "  that 
I  used  to  take  out  last  summer  ?  " 

"  That  animal,"  said  the  livery-stable  man,  ris 
ing  and  clasping  his  hands  under  his  coat-tail, 
"  I  am  sorry  to  say,  you  can't  have.  He's 
foundered." 

"  That's  bad,"  said  Ting-a-ling,  "  for  I  always 
liked  him." 

"  I  can  let  you  have  one  just  as  fast,"  said  the 
stable-keeper.  "  By  the  way,  how  would  you  like 
a  real  good  grasshopper  ?  " 

"Too  hot  a  day  for  the  saddle,"  said  Ting-a- 
ling  ;  "  and  now  please  harness  up,  for  I'm  in  a 
dreadful  hurry." 

"  Yes,  sir,  right  away.    But  I  don't  know  exactly 


TING-A-LING.  21 

what  wagon  to  give  you.  I  have  two  first-rate 
new  pea-pods ;  but  they  are  both  out.  However, 
I  can  let  you  have  a  nice  easy  Johnny-jump-up,  if 
you  say  so." 

"  Any  thing  will  do,"  said  Ting-a-ling,  "  only 
get  it  out  quick." 

In  a  very  short  time  a  butterfly  was  brought 
out,  and  harnessed  to  a  first-class  Johnny-jump- 
up.  The  vehicles  used  by  these  fairies  were  gen 
erally  a  cup-like  blossom,  or  something  of  that 
nature,  furnished,  instead  of  wheels,  with  little 
bags  filled  with  a  gas  resembling  that  used  to  in 
flate  balloons.  Thus  the  vehicle  was  sustained  in 
the  air,  while  the  steed  drew  it  rapidly  along. 

As  soon  as  Ting-a-ling  heard  the  sound  of  the 
approaching  equipage,  he  stood  upon  the  horse 
block,  and  when  the  wagon  was  brought  up  to 
it,  he  quickly  jumped  in  and  took  the  reins  from 
the  hostler.  u  Get  up !  "  said  he,  and  away  they 
went. 

It  was  a  long  drive,  and  it  was  at  least  three 
in  the  afternoon  when  Ting-a-ling  reached  the 
Giant's  castle.  Drawing  up  before  the  great 
gates,  he  tied  his  animal  to  a  hinge,  and  walked 
in  himself  under  the  gate.  Going  boldly  into  the 
hall,  he  went  up-stairs,  or  rather  he  ran  up  the 


22  TIXG-A-LIXG. 

top  rail  of  the  banisters,  for  it  would  have  been 
hard  work  for  him  to  have  clambered  up  each  sep 
arate  step.  As  he  expected,  he  found  the  Giant 
(whose  name  I  forgot  to  say  was  Tur-il-i-ra)  in  his 
dining-room.  He  had  just  finished  his  dinner, 
and  was  sitting  in  his  arm-chair  by  the  table,  fast 
asleep.  This  Giant  was  about  as  large  as 'two 
mammoths.  It  was  useless  for  Ting-a-ling  to 
stand  on  the  floor,  and  endeavor  to  make  himself 
heard  above  the  roaring  of  the  snoring,  which 
sounded  louder  than  the  thunders  of  a  cataract. 
So,  climbing  upon  one  of  the  Giant's  boots,  he 
ran  up  his  leg,  and  hurried  over  the  waistcoat  so 
fast,  that,  slipping  on  one  of  the  brass  buttons,  he 
came  down  upon  his  knees  with  great  force. 

"  Whew  !  "  said  he,  "  that  must  have  hurt  him  ! 
after  dinner  too  !  " 

Jumping  up  quickly,  he  ran  easily  over  the 
bosom,  and  getting  on  his  shoulder,  clambered  up 
into  his  ear.  Standing  up  in  the  opening  of  this 
immense  cavity,  he  took  hold  of  one  side  with 
Ins  outstretched  arms,  and  shouted  with  all  his 
might,  — 

"  Tur-i\-\ !  Tur-i\-i  I  Tur-{\-i-RA  !  " 

Startled  at  the  noise,  the  Giant  clapped  his  hand 
to  his  ear  with  such  force,  that  had  not  Ting-a- 


TING-A-LIXG.  28 

ling  held  on  very  tightly,  he  would  have  been  shot 
up  against  the  tympanum  of  this  mighty  man. 

"  Don't  do  that  again  !  "  cried  the  little  fellow. 
"Don't  do  that  again!  It's  only  me  —  Ting-a- 
ling.  Hold  your  finger." 

Recognizing  the  voice  of  his  young  friend,  the 
Giant  held  out  his  forefinger,  and  Ting-a-ling, 
mounting  it,  was  carried  round  before  the  Giant's 
face,  where  he  proceeded  to  relate  the  misfortunes 
of  the  two  lovers,  in  his  most  polished  and  affect 
ing  style. 

The  Giant  listened  with  much  attention,  and 
when  he  had  done,  said,  "  Ting-a-ling,  I  feel  a 
great  interest  in  all  young'  people,  and  will  do 
what  I  can  for  this  truly  unfortunate  couple.  But 
I  must  finish  my  nap  first,  otherwise  I  could  not 
do  anything.  Please  jump  down  on  the  table 
and  eat  something,  while  I  go  to  sleep  for  a  little 
while." 

So  saying,  he  put  Ting-a-ling  gently  down  upon 
the  table.  But  this  young  gentleman,  having  a 
dainty  appetite,  did  not  see  much  that  he  thought 
he  would  like  ;  but,  cutting  a  grain  of  rice  in  two, 
he  ate  the  half  of  it,  and  then  laid  down  on  a  nap 
kin  and  went  to  sleep. 

When  Tur-il-i-ra  awoke,  he  remembered  that  it 


24  TING-A-LISG. 

was  time  to  be  off,  and,  waking  Ting-a-ling,  he  took 
out  his  great  purse,  and  placed  the  little  fairy  in 
it,  \diere  he  had  very  comfortable  quarters,  as 
there  was  no  money  there  to  hurt  him. 

"Don't  forget  my  wagon  when  you  get  to  the 
gate,"  said  Ting-a-ling,  sleepily,  rolling  himself 
up  for  a  fresh  nap,  as  the  Giant  closed  the  purse 
with  a  snap.  Tur-il-i-ra,  having  put  on  his  hat, 
went  down-stairs,  and  crossed  the  court-yard  in  a 
very  few  steps.  When  he  had  closed  the  great 
gates  after  him,  he  bethought  himself  of  Ting-a- 
ling's  turn-out,  which  the  fairy  had  mentioned  as 
being  tied  to  the  hinge.  Not  being  able  to  see 
anything  so  minute  at  the  distance  of  his  eyes 
from  the  ground,  he  put  on  his  spectacles,  and 
getting  upon  his  hands  and  knees,  peered  closely 
about  the  hinges. 

"  0 !  here  you  are,"  said  he,  and,  picking  up 
the  butterfly  and  wagon,  he  put  them  in  his  vest 
pocket  —  that  is,  all  excepting  the  butterfly's  head. 
That  remained  fast  to  the  hinge,  as  the  Giant  for 
got  he  was  tied.  Then  our  lofty  friend  set  off 
at  a  smart  pace  for  the  King's  castle ;  but  not 
withstanding  his  haste,  it  was  dark  when  he 
reached  it. 

"  Come  now,  young  man,"  said  he,  opening  his 


TING-A-LING.  25 

purse,  "  wake  up,  and  let  us  get  to  work.  Where 
is  that  Prince  you  were  talking-  about  ?  " 

"  Well,  I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  said  Tiug-a- 
ling,  rubbing  his  eyes.  "  But  just  put  me  up  to 
that  window  which  has  the  vine  growing  beneath 
it.  That  is  the  Princess's  room,  and  she  can  tell 
us  all  about  it." 

So  the  giant  took  him  on  his  finger,  and  put 
him  in  the  window.  There,  in  the  lighted  room, 
Ting-a-ling  beheld  a  sight  which  greatly  moved 
him.  Although  she  had  slept  but  little*  the  night 
before,  the  Princess  was  still  up,  and  was  sitting 
in  an  easy-chair,  weeping  profusely.  Near  her 
stood  a  maid-of-honor,  who  continually  handed 
her  fresh  handkerchiefs  from  a  great  basketful 
by  her  side.  As  fast  as  the  Princess  was  done 
with  one,  she  threw  it  behind  her,  and  the  great 
pile  there  showed  that  she  must  have  been  weep 
ing  nearly  all  day.  Getting  down  upon  the  floor, 
Ting-a-ling  clambered  up  the  Princess's  dress, 
and  reaching,  at  last,  her  ear,  shouted  into  it,  — 

"  Princess  !  Princess !  Stop  crying,  for  I'm 
come  !  " 

The  Princess  was  very  much  startled ;  but  she 
did  not,  like  the  Giant,  clap  her  hand  to  her  ear, 
for  if  she  had,  she  would  have  ruined  the  beau- 


26  TING-A-LIXG. 

tiful  curls  which  stood  out  so  nicely  on  each  side. 
Ting-a-ling  implored  her  to  be  quiet,  and  told  her 
that  the  Giant  had  come  to  assist  her,  and  that 
they  wanted  to  know  where  the  Prince  was  con 
fined. 

"  I  will  tell  you  !  I  will  show  you  !  "  cried  the 
Princess  quickly,  and,  jumping1  up,  she  ran  to  the 
window  with  Ting-a-ling  still  at  her  ear.  "O 
you  good  giant,"  she  cried,  "  are  you  there  ?  If 
you  will  take  me,  I  will  show  you  the  tower,  the 
cruel  tower,  where  my  Prince  is  confined." 

"  Fear  not !  "  said  the  good  Giant.  "  Fear  not ! 
I  soon  will  release  him.  Let  me  take  you  in  my 
hands,  and  do  you  show  me  where  to  go." 

"  Are  you  sure  you  can  hold  me  ? "  said  the 
Princess,  standing  timidly  upon  the  edge  of  the 
window. 

"  I  guess  so,"  said  the  Giant.  "  Just  get  into 
my  hands." 

And,  taking  her  down  gently,  he  set  her  on  his 
arm,  and  then  he  took  Ting-a-ling  from  her  hair, 
and  placed  him  on  the  tip  of  his  thumb.  Thus 
they  proceeded  to  the  Tower  of  Tears. 

"  Here  is  the  place,"  said  the  Princess.  "  Here 
is  the  horrid  tower  where  my  beloved  is.  Please 
put  me  down  a  minute,  and  let  me  cry." 


TING-A-LDTG.  27 

"No,  no,"  said  the  Giant,;  "you  have  done 
enough  of  that,  my  clear,  and  we  have  no  time  to 
spare.  So,  if  this  is  your  Prince's  tower,  just  get 
iu  at  the  window,  and  tell  him  to  come  out  quickly, 
and  I  will  take  you  both  away  without  making  any 
fuss." 

"  That  is  the  window  —  the  fourth-story  one. 
Lift  me  up,"  said  the  Princess. 

But  though  the  Giant  was  very  large,  he  was 
not  quite  tall  enough  for  this  feat,  for  they  built 
their  towers  very  high  in  those  days.  So,  putting 
Ting-a-ling  and  the  Princess  into  his  pocket,  he 
looked  around  for  something  to  stand  on.  Seeing 
a  barn  near  by,  he  picked  it  up,  and  placed  it 
underneath  the  window.  He  put  his  foot  on  it 
to  try  if  it  would  bear  him,  and,  finding  it  would 
(for  in  those  times  barns  were  very  strong),  he 
stood  upon  it,  and  looked  in  the  fourth-story  win 
dow.  Taking  his  little  friends  out  of  his  pocket, 
he  put  them  on  the  window-sill,  where  Ting-a- 
ling  remained  to  see  what  would  happen,  but  the 
Princess  jumped  right  down  on  the  floor.  As 
there  was  a  lighted  candle  on  the  table,  she  saw 
that  there  was  some  one  covered  up  iu  the  bed. 

"  O,  there  he  is  !  "  said  she.  "  Now  I  will  wake 
him  up,  and  hurry  him  away."  But  just  at  that 


28  TING-A-LING. 

moment,  as  she  was  going  to  give  the  sleeper  a 
gentle  shake,  she  happened  to  perceive  the  yellow 
boots  sticking  out  from  under  the  sheet. 

"  0  dear !  "  said  she  in  a  low  voice,  "  if  he 
hasn't  gone  to  bed  with  his  boots  on !  And  if  I 
wake  him,  he  will  jump  right  down  on  the  floor, 
and  make  a  great  noise,  and  we  shall  be  found 
out." 

So  she  went  to  the  foot  of  the  bed,  and  pulled 
off  the  boots  very  gently. 

"  White  stockings  !  "  said  she.  "  What  does 
this  mean  ?  I  know  the  Prince  wore  green  stock 
ings,  for  I  took  particular  notice  how  well  they 
looked  with  his  yellow  boots.  There  must  be 
something  wrong,  I  declare !  Let  me  run  to  the 
other  end  of  the  bed,  and  see  how  it  is  there.  O 
my !  0  my !  "  cried  she,  turning  down  the  sheet. 
"  A  woman's  head  !  Wrong  both  ways !  O  what 
shall  I  do?" 

Letting  the  sheet  drop,  she  accidentally  touched 
the  head,  which  immediately  rolled  off  on  to  the 
floor. 

"  Loose !  Loose  ! !  Loose ! ! !  "  she  screamed  in 
bitter  agony,  clasping  her  hands  above  her  head. 
"  What  shall  I  ever  do  ?  0  misery  !  misery  me ! 
Some  demon  has  changed  him,  all  but  his  boots. 
0  Despair  !  Despair !  " 


TING-A-LING.  29 

And,  without  knowing  what  she  did,  she  rushed 
frantically  out  of  the  room,  and  along  the  dark 
passage,  and  popped  right  down  through  the  open 
trap. 

"  What's  up  ?  "  said  the  Giant,  putting  his 
face  to  the  window.  "  What's  all  this  noise 
about  ?  " 

"01  don't  know,"  said  Ting-a-ling,  almost 
crying,  "but  somebody's  head  is  off;  and  it's  a 
lady  —  all  but  the  boots  —  and  the  Princess  has 
run  away  !  O  dear !  0  dear  !  " 

"  Come  now  ! "  said  Tur-il-i-ra,  "  Ting-a-ling, 
get  into  my  pocket.  I  must  see  into  this  myself, 
for  I  can't  be  waiting  here  all  night,  you  know." 

So  the  Giant,  still  standing  on  the  barn,  lifted 
off  the  roof  of  the  tower,  and  threw  it  to  some 
distance.  He  then,  by  the  moonlight,  examined 
the  upper  story,  but,  finding  no  Prince  or  Prin 
cess,  brushed  down  the  walls  until  he  came  to  the 
floor,  and,  taking  it  up,  he  looked  carefully  over 
the  next  story.  This  he  continued,  until  he  had 
torn  down  the  whole  tower,  and  found  no  one  but 
servants  and  guards,  who  ran  away  in  all  direc 
tions,  like  ants  when  you  destroy  their  hills.  He 
then  kicked  down  all  those  walls  which  connected 
the  tower  with  the  rest  of  the  palace,  and,  when 


30  TING-A-LING. 

it  was  all  level  with  the  ground,  he  happened  to 
notice,  almost  at  his  feet,  a  circular  opening  like 
an  entrance  to  a  vault,  from  which  arose  a  very 
pleasant  smell  as  of  something  good  to  eat. 
Stooping  down  to  see  what  it  was  that  caused 
this  agreeable  perfume,  he  perceived  that  at  the 
distance  of  a  few  yards  the  aperture  terminated 
in  a  huge  yellow  substance,  in  which,  upon  a 
closer  inspection,  he  saw  four  feet  sticking  up  — 
two  with  slippers,  and  two  with  green  stock 
ings. 

"Why,  this  is  strange! "  said  he,  and,  stooping 
down,  he  felt  the  substance,  and  found  it  was 
quite  soft  and  yielding.  He  then  loosened  it  by 
passing  his  hand  around  it,  and  directly  lifted  it 
out  almost  entire. 

"  By  the  beard  of  the  Prophet !  "  he  cried,  "  but 
this  is  a  cheese ! "  and,  turning  it  over,  he  saw 
on  the  other  side  two  heads,  one  with  short  black 
hair,  and  the  other  covered  with  beautiful  brown 
curls. 

"  Why,  here  they  are !  As  I'm  a  living  Giant ! 
these  must  be  the  Prince  and  Princess,  stowed 
away  in  a  cheese ! "  And  he  laughed  until  the 
very  hills  cracked. 

When  he  got  a  little  over  his  merriment,  he 


TING-A-LING.  31 

asked  the  imprisoned  couple  how  they  got  there, 
and  if  they  felt  comfortable.  They  replied  that 
they  had  fallen  down  a  trap,  and  had  gone  nearly 
through  this  cheese,  where  they  had  stuck  fast, 
and  that  was  all  they  had  known  about  it;  and  if 
the  blood  did  not  run  down  into  their  heads  so, 
they  would  be  pretty  comfortable,  thank  him  — 
which  last  remark  the  Giant  accounted  for  by 
the  fact,  that,  when  lovers  are  near  each  other, 
they  do  not  generally  pay  much  attention  to  sur 
rounding  circumstances. 

"This,  then,"  said  he,  rising,  "is  where  the 
King  hardens  his  cheeses,  is  it?  Well,  well,  it's 
a  jolly  go  !  "  And  he  laughed  some  more. 

"  0  Tur-il-i-ra,"  cried  Tiug-a-ling,  looking  out 
from  the  vest-pocket,  "  I'm  so  glad  you've  found 
them." 

"  Well,  so  am  I,"  said  the  Giant. 

Then  Tur-il-i-ra,  still  holding  the  cheese,  walked 
away  for  a  little  distance,  and  sat  down  on  a  high 
bank,  intending  to  wait  there  until  morning,  when 
he  would  call  on  the  King,  and  confer  with  him 
in  relation  to  his  new-found  treasure.  Leaning 
against  a  great  rock,  the  Giant  put  the  cheese 
upon  his  knees  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  injure 
the  heads  and  feet  of  the  lovers,  and  dropped  into 
a  very  comfortable  sleep. 


82  TING-A-LING. 

"Don't  I  wish  I  could  get  my  arms  out  I" 
whispered  the  Prince. 

"  0  my  !  "  whispered  the  Princess. 

Ting-a-ling,  having  now  nothing  to  occupy  his 
mind,  and  desiring  to  stretch  his  legs,  got  out  of 
the  vest-pocket  where  he  had  remained  so  safely 
during  all  the  disturbance,  and  descended  to  the 
ground  to  take  a  little  walk.  He  had  not  gone 
far  before  he  met  a  young  friend,  who  was  run 
ning  along  as  fast  as  he  could. 

"Hallo!  Ting-a-ling,"  cried  the  other.  "Is 
that  you  ?  Come  with  me,  and  I  will  show  you 
the  funniest  thing  you  ever  saw  in  your  life." 

"Is  it  far?  "said  Ting-a-ling,  "for  I  must  be 
back  here  by  daylight." 

"  0  no !  come  on.  It  won't  take  you  long, 
and  I  tell  you,  it's  fun  !  " 

So  away  they  ran,  merrily  vaulting  over  the 
hickory-nuts,  or  acorns,  that  happened  to  be  in 
their  way,  in  mere  playfulness,  as  if  they  were 
nothing.  They  soon  came  to  a  large,  open  space, 
so  brightly  lighted  by  the  moon,  that  every  object 
was  as  visible  as  if  it  were  daylight.  Scattered 
over  the  smooth  green  were  thousands  of  fairies 
of  Ting-a-ling's  nation,  the  most  of  whom  were 
standing  gazing  intently  at  a  very  wonderful  sight. 


TIXG-A-LING.  38 

Seated  on  a  stone,  under  a  great  tree  that  stood 
all  alone  in  the  centre  of  this  plain,  was  a  woman 
without  any  head.  She  moved  her  hands  rapidly 
about  over  her  shoulders,  as  if  in  search  of  the 
missing1  portion  of  herself,  and,  encountering 
nothing  but  mere  air,  she  got  very  angry,  and 
stamped  her  feet,  and  shrugged  her  shoulders, 
which  amused  the  fairies  very  much,  and  they  all 
set  up  a  great  laugh,  and  seemed  to  be  enjoying 
the  fun  amazingly.  On  one  side,  down  by  a  little 
brook,  was  a  busy  crowd  of  fairies,  who  appeared 
to  be  washing  something  therein.  Scattered  all 
around  were  portions  of  the  Tower  of  Tears,  much 
of  which  had  fallen  hereabouts. 

Ting-a-ling  and  his  friend  had  not  gazed  long 
upon  this  scene  before  the  sound  of  music  was 
heard,  and  in  a  few  moments  there  appeared  from 
out  the  woods  a  gorgeous  procession.  First  came 
a  large  band  of  music,  ringing  blue-bells  and 
blowing  honeysuckles.  Then  came  an  array  of 
courtiers,  magnificently  dressed  ;  and,  after  them, 
the  Queen  of  the  fairies,  riding  in  a  beautiful 
water-lily,  drawn  by  six  royal  purple  butterflies, 
and  surrounded  by  a  brilliant  body  of  lords  and 
ladies. 

This  procession  halted  at  a  short  distance   in 

3 


84  TING-A-LING. 

front  of  the  lady-minus-a-head,  and  formed  itself 
into  a  semicircle,  with  the  Queen  in  the  centre. 
Then  the  crowd  at  the  brook  were  seen  approach 
ing-,  and  on  the  shoulders  of  the  multitude  was 
borne  a  head.  They  hurried  as  fast  as  their 
heavy  load  would  permit,  until  they  came  to  the 
tree  under  which  sat  the  headless  Nerralina,  who, 
bed  and  all,  had  fallen  here,  when  the  Giant  tore 
down  the  tower.  Then  quickly  attaching  a  long- 
rope  (that  they  had  put  over  a  branch  directly 
above  the  lady)  to  the  hair  of  the  head,  they  all 
took  hold  of  the  other  end,  and,  pulling  with  a 
will,  soon  hoisted  the  head  up  until  it  hung  at 
some  distance  above  the  neck  to  which  it  had  pre 
viously  belonged.  Now  they  began  to  lower  it 
slowly,  and  the  Queen  stood  up  with  her  wand 
raised  ready  to  utter  the  magic  word  which 
should  unite  the  parts  when  they  touched.  A 
deep  silence  spread  over  the  plain,  and  even  the 
lady  seemed  conscious  that  something  was  about 
to  happen,  for  she  stood  up  and  remained  perfectly 
still. 

There  was  but  one  person  there  who  did  not  feel 
pleasure  at  the  approaching  event,  and  that  was  a 
dwarf  about  a  foot  high,  very  ugly  and  wicked, 
who,  by  some  means  or  other,  had  got  into  this 


TING-A-LING. 


35 


goodly  company,  and  who  was  now  seated  in  a 
crotch  of  the  tree,  very  close  to  the  rope  by  which 
the  crowd  was  lowering  the  lady's  head.  No  one 
perceived  him,  for  he  was  very  much  the  color  of 
the  tree,  and  there  he  sat  alone,  quivering  with 
spite  and  malice. 


At  the  moment  the  head  touched  the  ivory  neck, 
the  Queen,  uttering  the  magic  word,  dropped  the 
end  of  the  wand,  and  immediately  the  head  ad 
hered  as  firmly  as  of  old. 


36  TING-A-LING. 

But  a  wild  shout  of  horror  rang  through  all  the 
plain  !  For,  at  the  critical  moment,  the  dwarf  bad 
reached  out  his  hand,  and  twisted  the  rope,  so 
that  when  the  head  was  joined,  it  was  wrong  side 
foremost  —  face  back  ! 

Just  then  tbe  little  villain  stuck  his  head  out 
from  behind  the  branch,  and,  giving  a  loud  and 
mocking  laugh  of  triumph,  dropped  from  the  tree. 
With  a  yell  of  anger  the  whole  crowd,  Queen, 
courtiers,  common  people,  and  all,  set  off  in  a  mad 
chase  after  the  dwarf,  who  fled  like  a  stag  before 
the  hounds. 

All  were  gone  but  little  Ting-a-ling,  and  when 
he  saw  the  dreadful  distress  of  poor  Nerralina, 
who  jumped  up,  and  twisted  around,  and  ran  back 
ward  both  ways,  screaming  for  help,  he  stopped 
not  a  minute,  but  ran  to  where  he  had  left  the 
Giant,  and  told  him,  as  fast  as  his  breathing  would 
allow,  the  sad  story. 

Kubbing  his  eyes,  Tnr-il-i-ra  perceived  that  it 
was  nearly  day,  and  concluded  to  commence  oper 
ations.  He  placed  Ting-a-ling  on  his  shirt-frill, 
where  he  could  see  what  was  going  on,  and,  tak 
ing  about  eleven  strides,  he  came  to  where  poor 
Nerralina  was  jumping  about,  and,  picking  her 
np,  put  her  carefully  into  his  coat-tail  pocket. 


TING-A-LING.  37 

Then,  with  the  cheese  in  his  hand,  he  walked 
slowly  toward  the  palace. 

When  he  arrived  there,  he  found  the  people 
running  about,  and  crowding-  around  the  ruins  of 
the  Tower  of  Tears.  He  passed  on,  however,  to 
the  great  Audience  Chamber,  and,  looking  in,  saw 
the  King  sitting  upon  his  throne  behind  a  velvet- 
covered  table,  holding  an  early  morning  council, 
and  receiving  the  reports  of  his  officers  concerning 
the  damage.  As  this  Hall,  and  the  doors  thereof, 
were  of  great  size,  the  Giant  walked  in,  stooping 
a  little  as  he  entered. 

He  inarched  right  up  to  the  King,  and  held  the 
cheese  down  before  him. 

"  Here,  your  Majesty,  is  your  daughter,  and  the 
young  Prince,  her  lover.  Does  your  Majesty  rec 
ognize  them  ?  " 

"  Well,  I  declare  !  "  cried  the  King.  "  If  that 
isn't  my  great  cheese,  that  I  had  put  in  the  vault- 
flue  to  harden  !  And  my  daughter  and  that  young 
man  in  it !  What  does  this  mean  ?  What  have 
you  been  doing,  Giant  ?  " 

Then  Tur-il-i-ra  related  the  substance  of  the 
whole  aifair  in  a  very  brief  manner,  and  concluded 
by  saying  that  he  hoped  to  see  them  made  man 
and  wife,  as  he  considered  them  under  his  protec- 


88  TING-A-LING. 

tion,  and  intended  to  see  them  safely  through  this 
affair.  And  he  held  them  up  so  that  all  the  people 
who  thronged  into  the  Hall  could  see. 

The  people  all  laughed,  but  the  King  cried 
"  Silence  !  "  and  said  to  the  Giant,  "  If  the  young 
man  is  of  as  good  blood  as  my  daughter,  I  have  no 
desire  to  separate  them.  In  fact,  I  don't  think  I 
am  separating  them.  I  think  it's  the  cheese  !  " 

"  Come  !  come  !  "  said  the  Giant,  turning  very 
red  in  the  face,  "none  of  your  trifling,  or  I'll 
knock  your  house  down  over  your  eyes !  " 

And,  putting  the  cheese  down  close  to  the  table, 
he  broke  it  in  half,  letting  the  lovers  drop  out  on 
the  velvet  covering,  when  they  immediately  rushed 
into  each  other's  arms,  and  remained  thus  clasped 
for  a  length  of  time. 

They  then  slowly  relinquished  their  hold  upon 
each  other,  and  were  exchanging  looks  of  supreme 
tenderness,  when  the  Prince,  happening  to  glance 
at  his  feet,  sprang-  back  so  that  he  almost  fell  otf 
the  long  table,  and  shouted,  — 

"  Blood  !  Fire  !  Thunder  !  Where's  my  boots  ? 
Boots  !  Slaves !  Hounds !  Get  me  my  boots ! 
boots ! !  boots  !  ! !  " 

"  0  !  he's  a  Prince!  "  cried  the  King,  jumping 
up.  "  I  want  no  further  proof.  He's  a  Prince. 


TING-A-LING.  41 

Give  him  boots.  And  blow,  homers,  blow !  Beat 
your  drums,  drummers !  Join  hauds  all !  Clear 
the  floor  for  a  dance  !  " 

And  in  a  trice  the  floor  was  cleared,  and  about 
five  thousand  couples  stood  ready  for  the  first  note 
from  the  band. 

"  Hold  up  !  "  cried  the  Giant.  "  Hold  up  !  here 
is  one  I  forgot,"  and  he  commenced  feeling  in  his 
pockets.  "  I  know  I  have  got  her  somewhere. 
O  yes,  here  she  is  ! "  and  taking  the  Lady  Nerra- 
liua  from  his  coat-tail  pocket,  he  put  her  carefully 
upon  the  table. 

Every  face  in  the  room  was  in  an  instant  the 
picture  of  horror,  —  all  hut  that  of  the  little  girl 
whose  duty  it  was  to  fasten  Nerralina's  dress  every 
morning,  —  who  got  behind  the  door,  and  jump 
ing  up,  and  clapping  her  hands  and  heels,  ex 
claimed,  "  Good  !  good  !  Now  she  can  see  to 
fasten  her  own  frock  behind  !  " 

The  Prince  was  the  first  to  move,  and,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  he  approached  the  luckless  lady, 
who  was  sobbing  piteously. 

"  Poor  thing !  "  said  he,  and,  putting  his  arm 
around  her,  he  kissed  her.  What  joy  thrilled 
through  Nerraliua !  She  had  never  been  kissed 
by  a  man  before,  and  it  did  for  her  what  such 


42  TING-A-LING. 

thing's  have  done  for  many  a  young-  lady  since  — 
it  turned  her  head  ! 

"  Blow,  homers,  blow !  "  shouted  the  King 
"  Join  hands  all ! " 

Seizing  Nerralina's  hand,  and  followed  by  the 
Prince  and  Princess,  who  sprang  from  the  table, 
he  led  off  the  five  thousand  couples  in  a  grand 
gallopade. 

The  Giant  stood,  and  laughed  heartily,  until, 
at  last,  being  no  longer  able  to  restrain  himself, 
he  sprang  into  the  midst  of  them,  and  danced 
away  royally,  trampling  about  twenty  couples  un 
der  foot  at  every  jump. 

"  Dance  away,  old  fellow !  "  shouted  the  King, 
from  the  other  end  of  the  room.  "  Dance  away, 
my  boy,  and  never  mind  the  people." 

And  the  music  blew  louder,  and  round  they  all 
went  faster  and  faster,  until  the  building  shook 
and  trembled  from  the  cellar  to  the  roof. 

At  length,  perfectly  exhausted,  they  all  stopped, 
and  Ting-a-ling,  slipping  down  from  the  Giant's 
frill,  went  out  of  the  door. 

"  O  !  "  said  he,  wiping  the  tears  of  laughter 
from  his  eyes,  "it  was  all  so  funny,  and  every 
body  was  so  happy  —  that  —  that  I  almost  forgot 
iny  bereavement." 


TING-A-LING  AND  THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS, 

TING-A-LING,  for  some  weeks  after  the  death  of 
his  young1  companion,  Ling-a-ting,  seemed  quite 
sad  and  dejected.  He  spent  nearly  all  his  time  lying 
in  a  half-opened  rose-bud,  and  thinking  of  the  dear 
little  creature  who  was  gone.  But  one  morning, 
the  hud  having  become  a  full-blown  rose,  its  petals 
fell  apart,  and  dropped  little  Ting  a-ling  out  on  the 
grass.  The  sudden  fall  did  not  hurt  him,  but  it 
roused  him  to  exertion,  and  he  said,  "  O  ho !  This 
will  never  do.  I  will  go  up  to  the  palace,  and  see 
if  there  is  anything  going  on."  So  off  he  went 
to  the  great  palace:  and  sure  enough  something 
was  going  on.  He  had  scarcely  reached  the  court 
yard,  when  the  bells  began  to  ring,  the  horns  to 
blow,  the  drums  to  beat,  and  crowds  of  people  to 
shout  and  run  in  every  direction,  and  there  was 
never  such  a  noise  and  hubbub  before. 

Ting-a-ling  slipped  along  close  to  the  wall,  so 
that  he  would  not  be  stepped  on  by  anybody  ;  and 
having  reached  the  palace,  he  climbed  up  a  long 


44  TING-A-LING. 

trailing  vine,  into  one  of  the  lower  windows.  There 
he  saw  the  vast  audience-chamber  filled  with  peo 
ple,  shouting,  and  calling,  and  talking,  all  at  once. 
The  grand  vizier  was  on  the  wide  platform  of  the 
throne,  making  a  speech,  but  the  uproar  was  so 
great  that  not  one  word  of  it  could  Ting-a-liug 
hear.  The  King  himself  was  by  his  throne,  put 
ting  on  the  bulky  boots,  which  he  only  wore  when 
he  went  to  battle,  and  which  made  him  look  so 
terrible  that  a  person  could  hardly  see  him  with 
out  trembling.  The  last  time  that  he  had  worn 
those  boots,  as  Ting-a-ling  very  well  knew,  he  had 
made  war  on  a  neighboring  country,  and  had  de 
feated  all  the  armies,  killed  all  the  people,  torn 
down  all  the  towns  and  cities,  and  every  house 
and  cottage,  and  ploughed  up  the  whole  country, 
and  sowed  it  with  thistles,  so  that  it  could  never 
be  used  as  a  country  any  more.  So  Ting-a-liug 
thought  that  as  the  King  was  putting  on  his  war 
boots,  something  very  great  was  surely  about  to 
happen.  Hearing  a  fizzing  noise  behind  him,  he 
turned  around,  and  there  was  the  Prince  in  the 
court-yard,  grinding  his  sword  on  a  grindstone, 
which  was  turned  by  two  slaves,  who  were  working 
away  so  hard  and  fast  that  they  were  nearly  ready 
to  drop.  Then  he  knew  that  wonderful  things 


TING-A-LING  AND  THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS.     45 

were  surely  coming1  to  pass,  for  in  ordinary  times 
the  Prince  never  lifted  his  finger  to  do  anything 
for  himself. 

J  ust  then,  a  little  page,  who  had  been  sent  for 
the  King's  spurs,  and  couldn't  find  them,  and  who 
was  therefore  afraid  to  go  back,  stopped  to  rest 


himself  for  a  minute  against  the  window  where 
Tiug-a-ling  was  standing.  As  his  head  just  reached 
a  little  above  the  window-seat,  Ting-a-liug  went 
close  to  his  ear  and  shouted  to  him,  to  please  tell 
him  what  was  the  matter.  The  page  started  at 
first,  but,  seeing  it  was  only  a  little  fairy,  he  told 


46  TING-A-LDTG. 

him  that  the  Princess  was  lost,  and  that  the  whole 
army  was  going  out  to  find  her.  Before  he  could 
say  anything  more,  the  King  was  heard  to  roar  for 
his  spurs,  and  away  ran  the  little  page,  whether  to 
look  again  for  the  spurs,  or  to  hide  himself,  is  not 
known  at  the  present  day.  Ting-a-ling  now  be 
came  very  much  excited.  The  Princess  Aufalia, 
who  had  been  married  to  the  Prince  but  a  month 
ago,  was  very  dear  to  him,  and  he  felt  that  he  must 
do  something  for  her.  But  while  he  was  thinking 
what  this  something  might  possibly  be,  he  heard 
the  clear  and  distinct  sound  of  a  tiny  bell,  which, 
however,  no  one  but  a  fairy  could  possibly  have 
heard  above  all  that  noise.  He  knew  it  was  the 
bell  of  the  fairy  Queen,  summoning  her  subjects 
to  her  presence;  and  in  a  moment  he  slid  down 
the  vine,  and  scampered  away  to  the  gardens. 
There,  although  the  sun  was  shining  brightly,  and 
the  fairies  seldom  assembled  but  by  night,  there 
were  great  crowds  of  them,  all  listening  to  the 
Queen,  and  keeping  much  better  order  than  the 
people  hi  the  King's  palace.  The  Queen  addressed 
them  in  soul-stirring  strains,  and  urged  every  one 
to  do  their  best  to  find  the  missing  Princess.  In 
the  night  she  had  been  taken  away,  while  the 
Prince  and  everybody  were  asleep.  "  And  now," 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE   FIVE  MAGICIANS.      47 

said  the  Queen,  untying  her  scarf,  and  holding  it 
up,  "  away  with  you,  every  one !  Search  everj 
house,  garden,  mountain,  and  plain,  in  the  laud, 
and  the  first  one  who  comes  to  nie  with  news  of  the 
Princess  Aufalia,  shall  wear  my  scarf!  "  And,  as 
this  was  a  mark  of  high  distinction,  and  conveyed 
privileges  of  which  tlffere  is  no  time  now  to  tell, 
the  fairies  gave  a  great  cheer  (which  would  have 
sounded  to  you,  had  you  heard  it,  like  a  puff  of 
wind  through  a  thicket  of  reeds),  and  they  all 
rushed  away  in  every  directiou.  Now,  though  the 
fairies  of  this  tribe  could  go  almost  anywhere, 
through  small  cracks  and  key-holes,  under  doors, 
and  into  places  where  no  one  else  could  possibly 
penetrate,  they  did  not  fly,  or  float  in  the  air,  or 
anything  of  that  sort.  When  they  wished  to 
travel  fast  or  far,  they  would  mount  on  butterflies, 
and  all  sorts  of  insects ;  but  they  seldom  needed 
such  assistance,  as  they  were  not  in  the  habit  of 
going  far  from  their  homes  in  the  palace  gardens. 
Ting-a-ling  ran,  as  fast  as  he  could,  to  where  a 
friend  of  his,  whom  we  have  mentioned  before, 
kept  grasshoppers  and  butterflies  to  hire ;  but  he 
found  he  was  too  late,  —  every  one  of  them  was 
taken  by  the  fairies  who  had  got  there  before  him. 
''  Never  mind,"  said  Ting-a-ling  to  himself,  "  I'll 


48  TING-A-LLNG. 

catch  a  wild  one;"  and,  borrowing  a  bridle,  he 
went  out  into  the  meadows,  to  catch  a  grasshopper 
for  himself.  He  soon  perceived  one,  quietly  feed 
ing  under  a  clover-blossom.  Ting-a-ling  slipped 
up  softly  behind  him  ;  but  the  grasshopper  heard 
him,  and  rolled  his  big  eyes  backward,  drawing  in 
his  hind-legs  in  the  way  which  all  boys  know  so 
well.  "  What's  the  good  of  his  seeing  all  around 
him?"  thought  Ting-a-ling;  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  grasshopper  thought  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  good  in  it,  for,  just  as  Ting-a-ling  made  a 
rush  at  him,  he  let  fly  with  one  of  his  hind-legs, 
and  kicked  our  little  friend  so  high  into  the  air. 
that  he  thought  he  was  never  coming  down  again. 
He  landed,  however,  harmlessly  on  the  grass  on 
the  other  side  of  a  fence.  Nothing  discouraged, 
he  jumped  up,  with  his  bridle  still  in  his  hand,  and 
looked  around  for  the  grasshopper.  There  he  was, 
with  his  eyes  still  rolled  back,  and  his  leg  ready 
for  another  kick,  should  Ting-a-ling  approach  him 
again.  But  the  little  fellow  had  had  enough  of 
those  strong  legs,  and  so  he  slipped  along  the 
fence,  and,  getting  through  it,  stole  around  in  front 
of  the  grasshopper;  and,  while  he  was  still  look 
ing  backward  with  all  his  eyes,  Ting-a-ling  stepped 
quietly  up  before  him,  and  slipped  the  bridle  over 


TIXG-A-LING  AND   THE   FIVE  MAGICIANS.          49 

his  bead !  It  was  of  no  use  for  the  grasshopper 
to  struggle  and  pull  back,  for  Ting-a-ling  was 
astraddle  of  him  in  a  moment,  kicking  him  with 
his  heels,  and  shouting  "  Hi !  Hi !  " 

Away  sprang  the  grasshopper  like  a  bird,  and 
he  sped  on  and  on,  faster  than  he  had  ever  gone 
before  in  his  life,  and  Ting-a-ling  waved  his  little 
sword  over  his  head,  and  shouted  "  Hi !  Hi !  " 

So  on  they  went  for  a  long  time ;  and  in  the 
afternoon  the  grasshopper  began  to  get  very  tired, 
and  did  not  make  anything  like  such  long  jumps 
as  he  had  done  at  first.  They  were  going  down 
a  grassy  hill,  and  had  just  reached  the  bottom, 
when  Ting-a-ling  heard  some  one  calling  him. 
Looking  around  him  in  astonishment,  he  saw 
that  it  was  a  little  fairy  of  his  acquaintance, 
younger  than  himself,  named  Parsley,  who  was 
sitting  in  the  shade  of  a  wide-spreading  dande 
lion. 

"  Hello,  Parsley  !  "  cried  Ting-a-ling,  reining 
up.  "  What  are  you  doing  there  ?  " 

"Why  yon  see,  Ting-a-ling,"  said  the  other, 
"  I  came  out  to  look  for  the  Princess  "  — 

"  You  !  "  cried  Ting-a-ling  ;  "  a  little  fellow 
like  you !  " 

"  Yes,  I !  "  said  Parsley ;  "  and  Sourgrass  and 

4 


50  TING-A-LING. 

I   rode   the   same   butterfly;  but  by  the  time  we 
had  come  this  far,  we  got  too  heavy,  and  Sour 
grass  made  me  get  off." 

"And  what  are  you  going  to  do  now?"  said 
Ting-a-ling. 

"  0,  I'm  all  right ! "  replied  Parsley.  "  I  shall 
have  a  butterfly  of  my  own  soon." 

"  How's  that  ?  "  asked  Ting-a-liug,  quite  curi 
ous  to  know. 

"Come  here!"  said  Parsley;  and  so  Tiug-a- 
ling  got  off  his  grasshopper,  and  led  it  up  close 
to  his  friend.  "  See  what  I've  found  !  "  said 
Parsley,  showing  a  cocoon  that  lay  beside  him. 
"  I'm  going  to  wait  till  this  butterfly  's  hatched, 
and  I  shall  have  him  the  minute  he  comes  out." 

The  idea  of  waiting  for  the  butterfly  to  be 
hatched,  seemed  so  funny  to  Ting-a-ling,  that  he 
burst  out  laughing,  and  Parsley  laughed  too,  and 
so  did  the  grasshopper,  for  he  took  this  opportu 
nity  to  slip  his  head  out  of  the  bridle,  and  away 
he  went ! 

Ting-a-ling  turned  and  gazed  in  amazement  at 
the  grasshopper  skipping  up  the  hill ;  and  Pars 
ley,  when  he  had  done  laughing,  advised  him 
to  hunt  around  for  another  cocoon,  and  follow  his 
example. 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE   FIVE   MAGICIANS.      51 

Ting-a-ling  did  not  reply  to  this  advice,  but 
throwing  his  bridle  to  Parsley,  said,  "There,  you 
would  better  take  that.  You  may  want  it  when 
your  butterfly  's  hatched.  I  shall  push  on." 

"  What !  walk  ?  "  cried  Parsley. 

"  Yes,  walk,"  said  Ting-a-ling.     "  Good-by." 

So  Ting-a-ling  travelled  on  by  himself  for  the 
rest  of  the  day,  and  it  was  nearly  evening  when 
he  came  to  a  wide  brook  with  beautiful  green 
banks,  and  overhanging  trees.  Here  he  sat  down 
to  rest  himself;  and  while  he  was  wondering 
if  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  him  to  try  to  get 
across,  he  amused  himself  by  watching  the  sports 
and  antics  of  various  insects  and  fishes  that 
were  enjoying  themselves  that  fine  summer  even 
ing.  Plenty  of  butterflies  and  dragon-flies  were 
there,  but  Ting-a-ling  knew  that  he  could  never 
catch  one  of  them,  for  they  were  nearly  all  the 
time  over  the  surface  of  the  water;  and  many  a 
big  fish  was  watching  them  from  below,  hoping 
that  in  their  giddy  flights,  some  of  them  would 
come  near  enough  to  be  snapped  down  for  supper. 
There  were  spiders,  who  shot  over  the  surface 
of  the  brook  as  if  they  had  been  skating;  and 
all  sorts  of  beautiful  bugs  and  flies  were  there, 
• —  green,  yellow,  emerald,  gold,  and  black.  At  a 


52  TING-A-LTNG. 

short  distance,  Ting-a-ling  saw  a  crowd  of  little 
minnows,  who  had  caught  a  young  tadpole,  and, 
having  tied  a  bluebell  to  his  tail,  were  now  chas 
ing  the  affrighted  creature  about.  But  after  a 
while  the  tadpole's  mother  came  out,  and  then 
the  minnows  caught  it ! 

While  watching  all  these  lively  creatures,  Ting- 
a-ling  fell  asleep,  and  when  he  awoke,  it  was  dark 
night.  He  jumped  up,  and  looked  about  him. 
The  butterflies  and  dragon-flies  had  all  gone  to 
bed,  and  now  the  great  night-bugs  and  buzzing 
beetles  were  out;  the  katydids  were  chirping  in 
the  trees,  and  the  frogs  were  croaking  among 
the  long  reeds.  Not  far  off,  on  the  same  side  of 
the  brook,  Ting-a-ling  saw  the  light  of  a  fire, 
and  so  he  walked  over  to  see  what  it  meant.  On 
his  way,  he  came  across  some  wild  honeysuckles, 
and,  pulling  one  of  the  blossoms,  he  sucked  out 
the  sweet  juice  for  his  supper,  as  he  walked  along. 
When  he  reached  the  fire,  he  saw  sitting  around 
it  five  men,  with  turbans  and  great  black  beards. 
Ting-a-ling  instantly  perceived  that  they  were 
magicians,  and,  putting  the  honeysuckle  to  his 
lips,  he  blew  a  little  tune  upon  it,  which  the 
magicians  hearing,  they  said  to  one  another, 
"There  is  a  fairy  near  us."  Then  Ting-a-ling 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE   MAGICIANS.      53 

came  into  the  midst  of  them,  and,  climbing  up  on 
a  pile  of  cloaks  and  shawls,  conversed  with  them  ; 
and  he  soon  heard  that  they  knew,  by  means  of 
their  magical  arts,  that  the  Princess  had  been 
stolen  the  night  before,  by  the  slaves  of  a  wicked 
dwarf,  and  that  she  was  now  locked  up  in  his 


castle,  which  was  on  top  of  a  high  mountain,  not 
far  from  where  they  then  were. 

"  I  shall  go  there  right  off,"  said  Ting-a-ling. 

"  And  what  will  you  do  when  yon  get  there  ?  " 
said  the  youngest  magician,  whose  name  was 
Zamcar.  "  This  dwarf  is  a  terrible  little  fellow, 


54  TING-A-LING. 

and  the  same  one  who  twisted  poor  Nerralina's 
head,  which  circumstance  of  course  you  remem 
ber.  He  has  numbers  of  fierce  slaves,  and  a  great 
castle.  You  are  a  good  little  fellow,  but  I  don't 
think  you  could  do  much  for  the  Princess,  if  you 
did  go  to  her." 

Ting-a-ling  reflected  a  moment,  and  then  said 
that  he  would  go  to  his  friend, ,  the  Giant  Tur- 
il-i-ra ;  but  Zamcar  told  him  that  that  tremendous 
individual  had  gone  to  the  uttermost  limits  of 
China,  to  launch  a  ship.  It  was  such  a  big  one, 
and  so  heavy,  that  it  had  sunk  down  into  the  earth 
as  tight  as  if  it  had  grown  there,  and  all  the  men 
and  horses  in  the  country  could  not  move  it.  So 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  send  for  Tur-il-i-ra. 
When  Ting-a-ling  heard  this,  he  was  disheart 
ened,  and  hung  his  little  head.  "  The  best  thing 
to  do,"  remarked  Alcahazar,  the  oldest  of  the 
magicians,  "would  be  to  inform  the  King  and 
his  army  of  the  place  where  the  Princess  is  con 
fined,  and  let  them  go  and  take  her  out." 

"  0  no  !  "  cried  Ting-a-ling,  who,  if  his  body 
was  no  larger  than  a  very  small  pea-pod,  had  a 
soul  as  big  as  a  water-melon.  "  If  the  King 
knows  it,  up  he  will  come  with  all  his  drums  and 
horns,  and  the  dwarf  will  hear  him  a  mile  off, 


TENG-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE   MAGICIANS.      55 

and  either  kill  the  Princess,  or  hide  her  away. 
It'  we  were  all  to  go  to  the  castle,  I  should  think 
we  could  do  something  ourselves."  This  was  the 
longest  speech  that  Ting-a-ling  had  ever  made ; 
and  when  he  was  through,  the  youngest  magician 
said  to  the  others  that  he  thought  it  was  growing 
cooler,  and  the  others  agreed  that  it  was.  After 
some  conversation  among  themselves  in  an  exceed 
ingly  foreign  tongue,  these  kind  magicians  agreed 
to  go  up  to  the  castle,  and  see  what  they  could 
do.  So  Zamcar  put  Ting-a-ling  in  the  folds  of 
his  turban,  and  the  whole  party  started  off  for 
the  dwarf's  castle.  They  looked  like  a  company 
of  travelling  merchants,  each  one  having  a  pack 
age  on  his  back  and  a  great  staff  in  his  hand. 
When  they  reached  the  outer  gate  of  the  castle, 
Alcahazar,  the  oldest,  knocked  at  it  with  his 
stick,  and  it  was  opened  at  once  by  a  shiny  black 
slave,  who,  coming  out,  shut  it  behind  him,  and 
inquired  what  the  travellers  wanted. 

"  Is  your  master  within  ?  "  asked  Alcahazar. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  the  slave. 

"  Can't  you  find  outP  "  asked  the  magician. 

"  Well,  g'ood  merchant,  perhaps  I  might ;  but 
I  don't  particularly  want  to  know,"  said  the  slave, 
•is  he  leaned  back  against  the  gate,  leisurely  strik- 


56  TING-A-LING. 

ing  with  his  long  sword  at  the  night-bugs  and 
beetles  that  were  buzzing  about. 

"  My  friend,"  said  Alcahazar,  "  don't  you  think 
that  is  rather  a  careless  way  of  using  a  sword  P 
You  might  cut  somebody." 

"  That's  true,"  said  the  slave.  «  I  didn't  think 
of  it  before;"  but  he  kept  ou  striking  away,  all 
the  same. 

"  Then  stop  it ! "  said  Alcahazar,  the  oldest 
magician,  striking  the  sword  from  his  hand  with 
one  blow  of  his  staff.  Upon  this,  up  stepped 
Ormanduz,  the  next  oldest,  and  whacked  the  slave 
over  his  head ;  and  then  Mahalla,  the  next  oldest, 
struck  him  over  the  shoulders ;  and  Akbeck,  the 
next  oldest,  cracked  him  on  the  shins;  and  Zam- 
car,  the  youngest,  punched  him  in  the  stomach ; 
and  the  slave  sat  down,  and  begged  the  noble 
merchants  to  please  stop.  So  they  stopped,  and 
he  humbly  informed  them  that  his  master  was  in. 

"  We  would  see  him,"  said  Alcahazar. 

"But,  sirs,"  said  the  slave,  "he  is  having  a 
grand  feast." 

"  Well,"  said  the  magician,  "  we're  invited." 

"  0  noble  merchants !  "  cried  the  slave,  "  why 
did  you  not  tell  me  that  before?"  and  he  opened 
wide  the  gate,  and  let  them  in.  After  they  had 


TING-A-LING  AND  THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS.     67 

passed  the  outer  gate,  which  was  of  wood,  they 
went  through  another  of  iron,  and  another  of 
brass,  and  another  of  copper,  and  then  walked 
through  the  court-yard,  filled  with  armed  slaves, 
and  up  the  great  castle  steps ;  at  the  top  of  which 
stood  the  butler,  dressed  in  gorgeous  array. 

"  Whom  have  you  here,  base  slave  ?  "  cried  the 
gorgeous  butler. 

"  Five  noble  merchants,  invited  to  my  lord's 
feast,"  said  the  slave,  bowing  to  the  ground. 

"  But  they  cannot  enter  the  banqueting  hall  in 
such  garbs,"  said  the  butler.  "  They  cannot  be 
noble  merchants,  if  they  come  not  nobly  dressed 
to  my  lord's  feast." 

"  O  sir !  "  said  Alcahazar,  "  may  your  delicate 
and  far-reaching  understanding  be  written  in 
books,  and  taught  to  youth  in  foreign  lands,  and 
may  your  profound  judgment  ever  overawe  your 
country !  But  allow  us  now  to  tell  you  that  we 
have  gorgeous  dresses  in  these  our  packs.  Would 
we  soil  them  with  the  dust  of  travel,  ere  we  en 
tered  the  halls  of  my  lord  the  dwarf?  " 

The  butler  bowed  low  at  this  address,  and  caused 
the  live  magicians  to  be  conducted  to  five  magnifi 
cent  chambers,  where  were  slaves,  and  lights,  and 
baths,  and  soap,  and  towels,  and  wash-rags,  and 


58  TING-A-LING. 

tooth-brushes ;  and  each  magician  took  a  gorgeous 
dress  from  his  pack,  and  put  it  on,  and  then  they 
were  all  conducted  (with  Ting-a-ling  still  in  Zam- 
car's  turban)  to  the  grand  hall,  where  the  feast  was 
being  held.  Here  they  found  the  dwarf  and  his 
guests,  numbering  a  hundred,  having  a  truly  jolly 
time.  The  dwarf,  who  was  dressed  in  white  (to 
make  him  look  larger),  was  seated  on  a  high  red 
velvet  cushion  at  the  end  of  the  hall,  and  the  com 
pany  sat  cross-legged  on  rugs,  in  a  great  circle 
before  him.  He  was  drinking  out  of  a  huge  bot 
tle  nearly  as  big  as  himself,  and  eating  little  birds ; 
and  judging  by  the  bones  that  were  left,  he  must 
have  eaten  nearly  a  whole  flock  of  them.  When 
he  saw  the  five  magicians  entering,  he  stopped 
eating,  and  opened  his  eyes  in  amazement,  and 
then  shouted  to  his  servants  to  tell  him  who  these 
people  were,  who  came  without  permission  to  his 
feast;  but  as  no  one  knew,  nobody  answered.  The 
guests,  seeing  the  stately  demeanor  and  magnifi 
cent  dresses  of  the  visitors,  thought  that  they  were 
at  least  five  great  monarchs. 

"  My  lord  the  dwarf,"  said  Alcahazar,  advancing 
toward  him,  "  I  am  the  king  of  a  far  country ;  and 
passing  your  castle,  and  hearing  of  your  feast,  I 
have  made  bold  to  come  and  offer  you  some  of  the 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS.      59 

sweet-tasting1  birds  of  my  kingdom."  So  saying, 
he  lifted  up  bis  richly  embroidered  cloak,  and 
took  from  under  it  a  great  silver  dish  containing 
about  two  hundred  dozen  hot,  smoking,  delicately 
cooked,  fat  little  birds.  Under  the  dish  were  fast 
ened  lamps  of  perfumed  oil,  all  lighted,  and  keep 
ing  the  savory  food  nice  and  hot.  Making  a  low 
bow,  the  magician  placed  the  dish  before  the 
dwarf,  who  tasted  one  of  the  birds,  and  immedi 
ately  clapped  his  hands  with  joy.  "  Great  King !  " 
he  cried,  "  welcome  to  my  feast !  Slaves,  quick  ! 
make  room  for  the  great  king !  "  As  there  was  no 
vacant  place,  the  slaves  took  hold  of  one  of  the 
guests,  and  gave  him  what  the  boys  would  call  a 
"  hist,"  right  through  the  window,  and  Alcahazar 
took  his  place.  Then  stepped  forward  Ormanduz, 
and  said,  "  My  lord  the  dwarf,  I  am  also  the  king 
of  a  far  country,  and  I  have  made  bold  to  offer  you 
some  of  the  wine  of  my  kingdom."  So  saying,  he 
lifted  his  gold-lined  cloak,  and  took  from  beneath 
it  a  crystal  decanter,  covered  with  gold  and  ruby 
ornaments,  with  one  hundred  and  one  beautifully 
carved  silver  goblets  hanging  from  its  neck,  and 
which  contained  about  eleven  gallons  of  the  most 
delicious  wine.  He  placed  it  before  the  dwarf,  who, 
having  tasted  the  wine,  gave  a  great  cheer,  and 


60  TING-A-LING. 

shouted  to  his  slaves  to  make  room  for  this  mighty 
king.  So  the  slaves  took  another  guest  by  the 
neck  and  heels,  and  sent  him,  slam-bang,  through 
the  window,  and  Ormanduz  took  his  place.  Then 
stepped  forward  Mahallah,  and  said,  "  My  lord  the 
dwarf,  I  am  also  the  king  of  a  far  country,  and  I 
bring  you  a  sample  of  the  venison  of  my  kingdom." 
So  saying,  he  raised  his  velvet  cloak,  trimmed  with 
diamonds,  and  took  from  under  it  a  whole  deer, 
already  cooked,  and  stuffed  with  oysters,  anchovies, 
buttered  toast,  olives,  tamarind  seeds,  sweet-mar 
joram,  sage,  and  many  other  herbs  and  spices,  and 
all  piping  hot,  and  smelling  deliciously.  This  he 
put  down  before  the  dwarf,  who,  when  he  had 
tasted  it,  waved  his  goblet  over  his  head,  and  cried 
out  to  the  slaves  to  make  room  for  this  mighty 
king.  So  the  slaves  seized  another  guest,  and  out 
of  the  window,  like  a  shot,  he  went,  and  Mahallah 
took  his  place.  Then  Akbeck  stepped  up,  and  said, 
"  My  lord  the  dwarf,  I  am  also  the  king  of  a  far 
country,  and  I  bring  you  some  of  the  confections 
of  my  dominions."  So  saying,  he  took  from  un 
der  his  cloak  of  gold  cloth,  a  great  basket  of  sil 
ver  filagree  work,  in  which  were  cream-chocolates, 
and  burnt  almonds,  and  sponge-cake,  and  lady's 
fingers,  and  mixtures,  and  gingernuts,  and  hoar 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE   MAGICIANS.      61 

hound  candy,  and  gum-drops,  and  fruit-cake,  and 
cream  candy,  and  mintstick,  and  pound-cake,  and 
rock  candy,  and  butter  taffy,  and  many  other  con 
fections,  amounting-  in  all  to  about  two  hundred 
and  twenty  pounds.  He  placed  the  basket  before 
the  dwarf,  who  tasted  some  of  these  good  things, 
and  found  them  so  delicious,  that  he  lay  on  his 
back  and  kicked  up  his  heels  in  delight,  shouting 
to  his  slaves  to  make  room  for  this  great  king. 
As  the  next  guest  was  a  big,  fat  man,  too  heavy  to 
throw  far,  he  was  seized  by  four  slaves,  who  walked 
him  Spanish  right  out  of  the  door,  and  Akbeck 
took  his  place.  Then  Zamcar  stepped  forward  and 
said,  "  My  lord  the  dwarf,  I  also  am  king  of  a  far 
country,  and  T  bring  you  some  of  the  fruit  of  my 
dominions."  And  so  saying,  he  took  from  beneath 
his  gold  and  purple  cloak,  a  great  basket  filled 
with  currants  as  big  as  grapes,  and  grapes  as  big 
as  plums,  and  plums  as  big  as  peaches,  and  peaches 
as  big  as  cantaloupes,  and  cantaloupes  as  big  as 
water-melons,  and  water-melons  as  big  as  barrels. 
There  were  about  nineteen  bushels  of  them  alto 
gether,  and  he  put  them  before  the  dwarf,  who, 
having  tasted  some  of  them,  clapped  his  hands, 
and  shouted  to  his  slaves  to  make  room  for  this 
mighty  king;  but  as  the  next  guest  had  very  sen- 


62  TING-A-LING. 

sibly  got  up  and  gone  out,  Zamcar  took  his  seat 
without  any  delay.  Then  Ting-a-ling,  who  was 
very  much  excited  by  all  these  wonderful  perform 
ances,  slipped  down  out  of  Zamcar's  turban,  and, 
running  up  towards  the  dwarf,  cried  out,  "My 
lord  the  dwarf,  I  am  also  the  king  of  a  far  coun 
try,  and  I  bring  you  "  —  and  he  lifted  up  his  little 
cloak ;  but  as  there  was  nothing  there,  he  said  no 
more,  but  clambered  up  into  Zamcar's  turban 
again.  As  nobody  noticed  or  heard  him,  so  great 
was  the  bustle  and  noise  of  the  festivity,  his  speech 
made  no  difference  one  way  or  the  other.  After 
everybody  had  eaten  and  drunk  until  they  could 
eat  and  drink  no  more,  the  dwarf  jumped  up  and 
called  to  the  chief  butler,  to  know  how  many  beds 
were  prepared  for  the  guests ;  to  which  the  butler 
answered  that  there  were  thirty  beds  prepared. 
"  Then,"  said  the  dwarf,  "  give  these  five  noble 
kings  each  one  of  the  best  rooms,  with  a  down  bed, 
and  a  silken  comfortable ;  and  give  the  other  beds 
to  the  twenty-five  biggest  guests.  As  to  the  rest, 
turn  them  out !  "  So  the  dwarf  went  to  bed,  and 
each  of  the  magicians  had  a  splendid  room,  and 
twenty-five  of  the  biggest  guests  had  beds,  and  the 
rest  were  all  turned  out.  As  it  was  pouring  down 
rain,  and  freezing,  and  cold,  and  wet,  and  slippery 


TING-A-LING   AND   THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS.      63 

(for  the  weather  was  very  unsettled  on  this  moun 
tain),  and  all  these  guests,  who  now  found  them 
selves  outside  of  the  castle  gates,  lived  many  miles 
away,  and  as  none  of  them  had  any  hats,  or  k.iew 
the  way  home,  they  were  very  miserable  indeed. 


Alcahazar  did  not  go  to  bed,  but  sat  in  his  room 
and  reflected.  He  saw  that  the  dwarf  had  given 
this  feast  on  account  of  his  joy  at  having  captured 
the  Princess,  and  thus  caused  grief  to  the  King 
and  Prince,  and  all  the  people;  but  it  was  also 
evident  that  he  was  very  sly,  and  had  not  men 
tioned  the  matter  to  any  of  the  company.  The 


04  T1NG-A-LLNG. 

other  magicians  did  not  go  to  bed  either,  but  sat 
in  their  rooms,  and  thought  the  same  thing1 ;  and 
Ting-a-ling,  in  Zamcar's  turban,  was  of  exactly 
the  same  opinion.  So,  in  about  an  hour,  when  all 
was  still,  the  magicians  got  up,  and  went  softly 
over  the  castle.  One  went  down  into  the  lower 
rooms,  and  there  were  all  the  slaves,  fast  asleep ; 
and  another  into  one  wing  of  the  castle,  and  there 
were  half  the  guests,  fast  asleep  ;  and  another  into 
the  other  wing,  and  there  were  the  rest  of  the 
guests,  fast  asleep ;  and  Alcahazar  went  into  the 
dwarf's  room,  in  the  centre  of  the  castle,  and 
there  was  he,  fast  asleep,  with  one  of  his  fists  shut 
tight.  The  magician  touched  his  fist  with  his 
magic  staff,  and  it  immediately  opened,  and  there 
was  a  key !  So  Alcahazar  took  the  key,  and  shut 
up  the  dwarf's  hand  again.  Zamcarwent  up  to 
the  floor,  near  the  top  of  the  house,  and  entered 
a  large  room,  which  was  empty,  but  the  walls  were 
hung  with  curtains  made  of  snakes'  skins,  beauti 
fully  woven  together.  Tiiig-a-liug  slipped  down 
to  the  floor,  and,  peeping  behind  these  curtains, 
saw  the  hinge  of  a  door ;  and  without  saying  a 
word,  he  got  behind  the  curtain ;  and,  sure  enough, 
there  was  a  door !  pud  there  was  a  key-hole  !  and 
in  a  minute,  there  was  Ting-a-ling  right  through 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS       65 

it!  and  there  was  the  Princess  in  a  chair  in  the 
middle  of  a  great  room,  crying-  as  if  her  heart 
would  break  !  By  the  light  of  the  moon,  which 
had  now  broken  through  the  clouds,  Ting-a-ling 
saw  that  she  was  tied  fast  to  the  chair.  So  he 
climbed  up  on  her  shoulder,  and  called  her  by 
name;  and  when  the  Princess  heard  him  and  knew 
him,  she  took  him  into  her  lovely  hands,  and  kissed 
him,  and  cried  over  him,  and  laughed  over  him  so 
much,  that  her  joy  had  like  to  have  been  the  death 
of  him.  When  she  got  over  her  excitement,  she 
told  him  how  she  had  been  stolen  away ;  how  she 
had  heard  her  favorite  cat  squeak  in  the  middle  of 
the  night,  and  how  she  had  got  up  quickly  to  go 
to  it,  supposing  it  had  been  squeezed  in  some 
door,  and  how  the  wicked  dwarf,  who  had  been 
imitating  the  cat,  was  just  outside  the  door  with 
his  slaves;  and  how  they  had  seized  her,  and 
bound  her,  and  carried  her  off  to  this  castle, 
without  waking  up  any  of  the  King's  household. 
Then  Ting-a-ling  told  her  that  his  five  friends 
were  there,  and  that  they  were  going  to  see  what 
they  could  do ;  and  the  Princess  was  very  glad  to 
hear  that,  you  may  be  sure.  Then  Ting-a-liug 
slipped  down  to  the  floor,  and  through  the  key 
hole  ;  and  as  he  entered  the  room  where  he  had 

5 


66  TING-A-LING. 

left  Zamcar,  in  came  Alcahazar  with  the  key, 
and  the  other  magicians  with  news  that  every 
body  was  asleep.  When  Ting-a-liug  had  told 
about  the  Princess,  Alcahazar  pushed  aside  the 
curtains,  unlocked  the  door  with  the  key,  and 
tbey  all  entered  the  next  room. 

There,  sure  enough,  was  the  Princess  Aufalia; 
but,  right  in  front  of  her,  on  the  floor,  squatted 
the  dwarf,  who  had  missed  his  key,  and  had 
slipped  up  by  a  back  way  !  The  magicians  started 
back  on  seeing  him;  the  Princess  was  crying 
bitterly,  and  Ting-a-ling  ran  past  the  dwarf  (who 
was  laughing  too  horribly  to  notice  him),  and 
climbing  upon  the  Princess's  shoulder,  sat  there 
among-  her  curls,  and  did  his  best  to  comfort  her. 

"  Anyway,"  said  he,  "  /  shall  not  leave  you 
again,"  and  he  drew  his  little  sword,  and  felt  as 
big  as  a  house.  The  magicians  now  advanced 
towards  the  dwarf;  but  he,  it  seems,  was  a  bit  of 
a  magician  himself,  for  he  waved  a  little  wand, 
and  instantly  a  strong  partition  of  iron  wire  rose 
up  out  of  the  floor,  and,  reaching  from  one  wall  to 
the  other,  separated  him  completely  from  the  five 
men.  The  magicians  no  sooner  saw  this,  than 
they  cried  out,  "  O  ho  !  Mr.  Dwarf,  is  that  your 
game  ?  " 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE   FIVE   MAGICIANS.      67 

"Yes,"  said  the  little  wretch,  chuckling1;  "can 
foil  play  at  it  ?  " 

"A  little,"  said  they;  and  each  one  pulled 
from  under  his  cloak  a  long1  file;  and  filing  the 
partition  from  the  wall  on  each  side,  which  only 
needed  a  few  strokes  from  their  sharp  files,  they 
pulled  it  entirely  down.  But  before  the  magi 
cians  could  reach  him,  the  dwarf  again  waved  his 
wand,  and  a  great  chasm  opened  in  the  floor 
before  them,  which  was  too  wide  to  jump  over, 
and  so  deep  .that  the  bottom  could  not  be  seen. 

"  0  ho !  "  cried  the  magicians ;  "  another  game, 
eh !  " 

"Yes  indeed,"  cried  the  dwarf.  "Just  let  me 
see  you  play  at  that." 

Each  of  the  magicians  then  took  from  under 
his  magic  cloak  a  long  board,  and,  putting  them 
over  the  chasm,  they  began  to  walk  across  them. 
But  the  dwarf  jumped  up  and  waved  his  wand, 
and  water  commenced  to  fall  on^  the  boards,  where 
it  immediately  froze;  and  they  were  so  slippery, 
that  the  magicians  could  hardly  keep  their  feet, 
and  could  not  make  one  step  forward.  Even 
standing  still,  they  came  very  near  falling  off  into 
he  chasm  below.  "I  suppose  you  can  play  at 
that,"  said  the  dwarf;  and  the  magicians  replied, 


68  TING-A-LING. 

"  0  yes ! "  and  each  one  took  from  under  his 
cloak  a  pan  of  ashes,  and  sprinkled  the  boards, 
and  walked  right  over.  But  before  they  reached 
the  other  edge,  the  dwarf  pushed  the  chair,  which 
was  on  rollers,  up  against,  the  wall  behind  him, 
which  opened;  and  instantly  the  Princess,  Ting- 


a-ling,  and  the  dwarf  disappeared,  and  the  wall 
closed  up.  Without  saying  a  word,  the  magicians 
each  drew  from  beneath  his  cloak  a  pickaxe,  and 
they  cut  a  hole  in  the  wall  in  a  few  minutes. 
There  was  a  large  room  on  the  other  side,  but  it 
was  entirely  empty.  So  they  sat  down,  and  got 


TING  A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE   MAGICIANS.      69 

out  their  magical  calculators,  and  soon  discovered 
that  the  Princess  was  in  the  lowest  part  of  the 
castle;  hut  the  magical  calculators  being  a  little 
out  of  order,  they  could  not  show  exactly  her 
place  of  confinement.  Then  the  five  hurried 
down-stairs,  where  they  found  the  slaves  still 
asleep ;  hut  one  poor  little  hoy,  whose  business  it 
was  to  get  up  early  every  morning  and  split  kin 
dling  wood,  having  had  none  of  the  feast,  was 
not  very  sleepy,  and  woke  up  when  he  heard  foot 
steps  near  him.  The  magicians  asked  him  if  he 
could  show  them  to  the  lowest  part  of  the  castle. 
"  All  right,"  said  he  ;  "  this  way  ;  "  and  he  led 
them  to  where  there  was  a  great  black  hole,  with 
a  windlass  over  it.  "  Get  in  the  bucket,"  said  he, 
'•  and  I  will  lower  you  down." 

"  Bucket !  "  cried  Alcahazar.  "  Is  that  a  well  ?  " 

"  To  be  sure  it  is,"  said  the  boy,  who  had  noth 
ing  on  but  the  baby-clothes  he  had  worn  ever 
since  he  was  born ;  and  which,  as  he  was  now 
about  ten  years  old,  had  split  a  good  deal  in  the 
back  and  arms,  but  in  length  they  were  very 
suitable. 

"  But  there  can  be  no  one  down  there,"  said 
the  magician.  "  I  see  deep  water." 

"  Of  course  there  is  nobody  there,"  replied  the 


70  TING-A-LING. 

boy.  "  Were  you  told  to  go  down  there  to  meet 
anybody?  Because,  if  you  were,  you  had  bet 
ter  take  some  tubs  down  with  you,  to  sit  in.  But 
all  I  know  about  it  is,  that  it's  the  lowest  part  of 
this  old  hole  of  a  castle." 

"  Boy,"  said  Alcahazar,  "  there  is  a  young  lady 
shut  up  down  here  somewhere.  Do  you  know 
where  she  is  ?  " 

"  How  old  is  she  ?  "  asked  the  boy. 

"About  seventeen,"  said  the  magician. 

"  0  then !  if  she  is  no  older  than  that,  I  should 
think  she'd  be  in  the  preserve-closet,  if  she  knew 
where  it  was,"  and  the  boy  pointed  to  a  great 
door,  barred  and  locked,  where  the  dwarf,  who 
had  a  very  sweet  tooth,  kept  all  his  preserves 
locked  up  tight  and  fast.  Zamcar  stooped  and 
looked  through  the  key-hole  of  tbis  door,  and 
there,  sure  enough,  was  the  Princess  !  So  the  boy 
proved  to  be  smarter  than  all  the  magicians. 
Each  of  our  five  friends  now  took  from  under 
his  cloak  a  crowbar,  and  in  a  minute  they  had 
forced  open  the  great  door.  But  they  had  scarcely 
entered,  when  the  dwarf,  springing  on  the  arm  of 
the  chair  to  which  the  Princess  was  still  tied,  drew 
his  sword,  and  clapped  it  to  her  throat,  crying 
out,  that  if  the  magicians  came  one  step  nearer, 
nc  would  slice  her  head  off. 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS.      71 

"  0  ho  !  "  cried  they,  "  is  that  your  game  ?  " 
"  Yes  indeed,"  said  the  chuckling  dwarf;  "  can 
you  play  at  it  ?  " 

The  magicians  did  not  appear  to  think  that 
they  could ;  but  Ting-a-ling,  who  was  still  on  the 
Princess's  shoulder,  though  unseen  by  the  dwarf, 
suddenly  shouted,  "  I  can  play  !  "  and  in  an  instant 
he  had  driven  his  little  sword  into  the  dwarf's 
eye,  who  immediately  sprang  from  the  chair  with 
a  howl  of  anguish.  While  he  was  yelling  and 
skipping  about,  with  his  hands  to  his  eyes,  the 
poor  boy,  who  hated  him  worse  than  pills,  clapped 
a  great  jar  of  preserves  over  him,  and  sat  down 
on  the  bottom  of  the  jar!  The  magicians  then 
untied  the  Princess ;  and  as  she  looked  weak  and 
faint,  Zamcar,  the  youngest,  took  from  under  his 
cloak  a  little  table,  set  with  everything  hot  and 
nice  for  supper ;  and  when  the  Princess  had  eaten 
something  and  taken  a  cup  of  tea,  she  felt  a  great 
deal  better.  Alcahazar  lifted  up  the  jar  from  the 
dwarf,  and  there  was  the  little  rascal,  so  covered 
up  with  sticky  jam,  that  he  could  not  speak  and 
could  hardly  move.  So,  taking  an  oil-cloth  bag 
from  under  his  cloak,  Alcahazar  dropped  the  dwarf 
into  it,  and  tied  it  up,  and  hung  it  to  his  girdle. 
The  two  youngest  magicians  made  a  sort  of  chair 


72  TING-A-LING. 

out  of  a  shawl,  and  they  carried  the  Princess  on 
it  between  them,  very  comfortably  ;  and  as  Ting- 
a-ling  still  remained  on  her  shoulder,  she  began 
to  feel  that  thing's  were  beginning  to  look  brighter. 
They  then  asked  the  poor  boy  what  he  would  like 
best  as  a  reward  for  what  he  had  done ;  and  he 
said  that  if  they  would  shut  him  up  in  that  room, 
and  lock  the  door  tight,  and  lose  the  key,  he 
would  be  happy  all  the  days  of  his  life.  So  they 
left  the  boy  (who  knew  what  was  good,  and  was 
already  sucking  away  at  a  jar  of  preserved  green 
gages)  in  the  room,  and  they  shut  the  door  and 
locked  it  tight,  and  lost  the  key;  and  he  lived 
there  for  ninety-one  years,  eating  preserves;  and 
when  they  were  all  gone,  he  died.  All  that  time 
he  never  had  any  clothes  but  his  baby-clothes, 
and  they  got  pretty  sticky  before  his  death.  Then 
our  party  left  the  castle ;  and  as  they  passed  the 
slaves  still  fast  asleep,  the  three  oldest  magicians 
took  from  under  their  cloaks  watering-pots,  filled 
with  water  that  makes  men  sleep,  and  they  watered 
the  slaves  with  it,  until  they  were  wet  enough  to 
sleep  a  week.  When  they  went  through  the  gates 
of  copper,  brass,  iron,  and  wood,  they  left  them 
all  open  behind  them.  They  had  not  gone  far 
before  they  saw  seventy-five  men,  all  sitting  in  a 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE   MAGICIANS.      75 

row  at  the  side  of  the  road,  and  looking  wofully 
indeed.  They  had  been  wet  to  the  skin,  and  were 
now  frozen  stiff,  not  one  of  them  being1  able  to 
move  anything  but  his  eyelids,  and  they  were  all 
crying  as  if  their  hearts  would  break.  So  the 
magicians  stopped,  and  the  three  oldest  each  took 
from  under  his  cloak  a  pair  of  bellows,  and  they 
blew  hot  air  on  the  poor  creatures  until  they  were 
all  thawed.  Then  Alcahazar  told  them  to  go  up 
to  the  castle,  and  take  it  for  their  own,  and  live 
there  all  the  rest  of  their  lives.  He  informed 
them  that  the  dwarf  was  his  prisoner,  and  that 
the  slaves  would  sleep  for  a  week. 

When  the  seventy-five  guests  (for  those  who  had 
been  taken  from  the  feast,  had  joined  their  com 
rades)  heard  this,  they  all  started  up,  and  ran  like 
deer  for  the  castle ;  and  when  they  reached  it,  they 
woke  up  their  comrades,  and  took  possession,  and 
lived  there  all  their  lives.  The  man  who  had  been 
first  thrown  through  the  window,  and  who  had 
broken  the  way  through  the  glass  for  the  others, 
was  elected  their  chief,  because  he  had  suffered  the 
most;  and  excepting  the  trouble  of  doing  their 
own  work  for  a  week,  until  the  slaves  awoke,  these 
people  were  very  happy  ever  afterwards. 

It  was  just  daylight  when   our  party  left  the 


76  TING-A-LING. 

dwarfs  castle,  and  by  the  next  evening  they  had 
reached  the  palace.  The  army  had  not  got  back, 
and  there  was  no  one  there  but  the  ladies  of  the 
Princess.  When  these  saw  their  dear  mistress, 
there  was  never  before  such  a  kissing,  and  hug 
ging,  and  crying,  and  laughing.  Ting-a-ling  came 
in  for  a  good  share  of  praise  and  caressing ;  and 
if  he  had  not  slipped  away  to  tell  his  tale  to  the 
fairy  Queen,  there  is  110  knowing  what  would  have 
become  of  him.  The  magicians  sat  down  outside 
of  the  Princess's  apartments,  to  guard  her  until 
the  army  should  return;  and  the  ladies  would 
have  kissed  and  hugged  them,  in  their  gratitude 
and  joy,  if  they  had  not  been  such  dignified  and 
grave  personages. 

Now,  the  King,  the  Prince,  and  the  great  army, 
had  gone  miles  and  miles  away  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  the  dwarf's  castle,  and  the  Princess  and 
her  ladies  could  not  think  how  to  let  them  know 
what  had  happened.  As  for  ringing  the  great  bell, 
they  knew  that  that  would  be  useless,  for  they  would 
never  hear  it  at  the  distance  they  were,  and  so  they 
wished  that  they  had  some  fireworks  to  set  off. 
Therefore  Zamcar,  the  youngest  magician,  offered 
to  go  up  to  the  top  of  the  palace  and  set  off  some. 
So,  when  he  got  up  to  the  roof,  he  lifted  up  his 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS.      77 

cloak,  and  took  out  some  fireworks,  and  set  thorn 
off;  aiid  the  light  shoiie  for  miles  and  miles,  and 
the  King1  and  all  his  army  saw  it.  The  King  had 
just  begun  to  feel  tired,  and  to  think  that  he  would 
pitch  his  tent,  and  rest  for  the  night  by  the  side 
of  a  pleasant  stream  they  had  reached,  when  he 
saw  the  light  from  the  palace,  and  instantly  knew 
that  there  had  been  tidings  of  the  Princess, — 
kings  are  so  smart,  you  know.  So,  when  his  slaves 
came  to  ask  him  where  they  should  pitch  his  tent, 
he  shouted,  "  Pitch  it  in  the  river !  '  Tention, 
army  !  Right  about  face,  for  home,  —  MARCH  !  " 
and  away  the  whole  army  marched  for  home,  the 
band  playing  the  lively  air  of 

"  Cream  cakes  for  supper, 

Heigh  O !    Heigh  0 ! 
0 !     Cream  cakes  for  supper, 

Heigh  O!    Heigh  0!"  — 

so  as  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  tired  men. 
When  they  approached  the  palace,  which  was  all 
lighted  up,  there  was  the  Princess  standing  at  the 
great  door,  in  her  Sunday  clothes,  and  looking 
as  lovely  as  a  full-blown  rose.  The  King  jumped 
from  his  high-mettled  racer,  and  went  up  the  steps, 
two  at  a  time  ;  but  the  Prince,  springing  from  his 
fiery  steed,  bounded  up  three  steps  at  once,  and 


78 


TING-A-LING. 


got  there  first.  When  he  and  the  King  had  got 
through  hugging  and  kissing  the  Princess,  her 
Sunday  clothes  looked  as  if  they  had  heen  worn  a 
week. 

"Now  then  for  supper,"  said  the  King,  "  and  I 
hope  it's  ready."     But  the  Princess  said  never  a 


word,  for  she  had  forgotten  all  about  supper;  and 
ail  the  ladies  hung  their  heads,  and  were  afraid  to 
speak.  But  when  they  reached  the  great  hall,  they 
found  that  the  magicians  had  been  at  work,  and  had 
cooked  a  grand  supper.  There  it  was,  on  ever  so 
many  long  tables,  all  smoking  hot,  and  smelling 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS.      79 

delightfully.  So  they  all  sat  down,  for  there  was 
room  enough  for  every  man,  and  nobody  said  a 
word  until  he  was  as  tight  as  a  drum. 

When  they  had  all  had  enough,  and  were  just 
about  to  begin  to  talk,  there  were  heard  strains  of 
the  most  delightful  soft  music ;  and  directly,  in  at 
a  window  came  the  Queen  of  the  fairies,  attended 
by  her  court,  all  mounted  on  beautiful  golden 
moths  and  dragon-flies.  When  they  reached  the 
velvet  table  in  front  of  the  throne,  where  the  King 
had  been  eating,  with  his  plate  on  his  lap,  they 
arranged  themselves  in  a  circle  on  the  table,  and 
the  Queen  spoke  out  in  a  clear  little  voice,  that 
could  have  been  heard  almost  anywhere,  and  an 
nounced  to  the  King  that  the  little  Ting-a-ling, 
who  now  wore  her  royal  scarf,  was  the  preserver 
of  his  daughter. 

"  O  ho!  "  said  the  King;  "and  what  can  I  do 
for  such  a  mite  as  you,  my  fine  little  fellow?  " 

Then  Ting-a-ling,  who  wanted  nothing  for  him 
self,  and  only  thought  of  the  good  of  his  people, 
made  a  low  bow  to  the  King,  and  shouted  at  the 
top  of  his  voice,  "  Your  royal  gardeners  are  going 
to  make  asparagus  beds  all  over  our  fairy  pleasure 
grounds.  If  you  can  prevent  that,  I  have  nothing 
more  to  ask." 


80  T1NG-A-LING. 

"  Blow,  Horner,  blow  ! "  cried  the  King1,  "  and 
hear,  all  men  !  If  any  man,  woman,  or  child, 
from  this  time  henceforward  forever,  shall  dare  to 
set  foot  in  the  garden  now  occupied  by  the  fairies, 
he  shall  be  put  to  death,  he  and  all  his  family,  and 
his  relations,  as  far  as  they  can  be  traced.  Take 
notice  of  that,  every  one  of  you  !  " 

Ting-a-ling  then  bowed  his  thanks,  and  all  the 
people  made  up  their  minds  to  take  very  particular 
notice  of  what  the  King1  had  said. 

Then  the  magicians  were  ordered  to  come  for 
ward  and  name  their  reward ;  but  they  bowed  their 
heads,  and  simply  besought  the  King  that  he  would 
grant  them  seven  rye  straws,  the  peeling  from  a 
red  apple,  and  the  heel  from  one  of  his  old  slip 
pers.  What  in  the  name  of  common  sense  they 
wanted  with  these,  no  one  but  themselves  knew; 
but  magicians  are  such  strange  creatures  !  When 
these  valuable  gifts  had  been  bestowed  upon  them, 
the  five  good  magicians  departed,  leaving  the 
dwarf  for  the  King  to  do  what  he  pleased  with. 
This  little  wretch  was  shut  up  in  an  iron  cage, 
and  every  day  was  obliged  to  eat  three  codfish,  a 
bushel  of  Irish  potatoes,  and  eleven  pounds  of  bran 
crackers,  and  to  drink  a  gallon  of  cambric  tea;  all 
of  which  things  he  despised  from  the  bottom  of 
his  miserable  little  heart. 


TING-A-LING  AND   THE  FIVE  MAGICIANS.      81 

"Now,"  cried  the  King1,  "all  is  settled,  and  let 
everybody  go  to  bed.  There  is  room  enough  in 
the  palace  for  all  to  sleep  to-night.  Form  in 
line,  and  to  bed,  —  MARCH  !  "  So  they  all  formed 
in  line,  and  began  to  inarch  to  bed,  to  the  music 
of  the  band ;  and  the  fairies,  their  little  horns 


blowing,  and  with  Ting-a-ling  at  the  post  of  honor 
by  the  Queen,  took  up  their  line  of  inarch,  out  of 
the  window  to  the  garden,  which  was  to  be,  hence 
forward  forever,  their  own.  Just  as  they  were  all 
filing  out,  in  flew  little  Parsley  on  the  back  of  his 
butterfly,  which  had  been  hatched  out  at  last. 


82  TING-A-LING. 

"  Hello!  "  cried  he.     " Is  it  all  over?  " 

"  Pretty  nearly,"  said  Ting-a-ling.     "  It's  just 

letting  out.     How  came  you  to  be  so  late  ?  " 
''  Easy  enough,"  said  poor  little  Parsley.     "  Of 

ajl  the  mean  things  that  ever  was  the  pokiest  long 

time  in  unwrapping  its  wings,  this  butterfly  's  the 

meanest." 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC. 


THERE  was  once  an  excessively  mighty  King, 
Barradin  the  Great,  who  died,  leaving  no  sous  or 
daughters,  or  any  relation  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
to  inherit  his  crown.  So  his  throne,  at  the  time 
of  which  I  write,  was  vacant.  This  mighty  King 
had  been  of  a  very  peculiar  disposition.  Unlike 
other  potentates,  he  took  no  delight  in  going  to 
war,  or  in  cutting  off  people's  heads,  or  in  getting 
married,  or  building  palaces.  But  he  was  a  great 
musician.  All  that  he  cared  for,  seemed  to  be 
music;  and  the  whole  of  his  leisure  time,  with  a 
great  many  of  his  business  hours,  was  occupied  in 
either  composing  or  performing  music  of  some 
kind.  Everybody  around  him  was  obliged  to  be 
musical ;  and  if  one  was  not  so,  it  would  be  of 
no  use  for  him  to  apply  for  any  situation.  His 
Prime  Minister  played  on  the  violin,  his  Secretary 
performed  on  the  horn,  while  his  Treasurer  was  su 
perb  upon  the  great  drum.  Every  time  the  Royal 
Council  met,  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting,  all 


84  TING-A-LING. 

set  to  music,  were  sung  by  the  Secretary;  and 
when  the  King  made  a  speech,  he  always  sung  it 
in  a  magnificent  bass  voice,  accompanied  by  a  full 
orchestra.  If  any  one  wished  to  present  a  peti 
tion,  he  was  always  sure  of  having  it  granted,  if 
he  could  but  sing  it  excellently  well,  and  even  folks 
who  were  good  at  whistling  were  favorably  received 
at  court.  The  example  of  the  King  was  followed 
by  the  people.  They  nearly  always  talked  to  some 
tune,  and  every  one  but  the  very  poorest  owned 
an  instrument. 

So  this  mighty  monarch  never  went  to  war,  or 
cut  off  people's  heads,  or  married  more  than  once ; 
and  as  for  building  palaces,  it  was  of  no  use,  for 
he  had  as  many  as  he  wanted,  already.  The  last 
ten  years  of  his  life  were  occupied,  almost  entirely, 
in  the  composition  of  a  wonderful  piece  of  music, 
in  which  he  sought,  by  means  of  perseverance  and 
magic,  to  combine  all  the  beauties  and  difficulties 
of  the  science.  He  had  scarcely  finished  it,  when 
he  died  ;  and  it  was  generally  supposed  that  if  he 
had  not  worked  so  hard  at  it,  he  would  have  lived 
much  longer. 

The  composition  was  not  long,  for  you  could 
have  sung  it  in  ten  minutes,  that  is,  if  you  could 
have  sung  it  at  all ;  which  is  by  no  means  likely, 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  85 

for  had  that  been  the  case  (and  you  had  lived  in 
those  days)  you  might  have  ruled  over  the  coun 
try.  For,  just  before  the  mighty  King  died,  he 
made  a  decree  to  this  effect, — that  his  successor 
on  the  throne  should  be  the  man,  woman,  or  child 
who  could,  at  sight,  sing  that  piece  of  music. 

So  the  music  was  put  up  against  a  marble  tablet 
in  the  great  hall  of  the  royal  palace,  and  there 
were  six  judges  appointed,  —  the  most  distin 
guished  professors  of  music  in  the  country,  —  and 
these  sat  on  great  velvet  chairs,  three  on  each  side 
of  the  music,  and  anybody  might  come  to  try  who 
chose. 

You  may  well  believe  that  the  people  came  in 
crowds,  for  nearly  every  one  wished  to  be  king  or 
queen,  as  the  case  might  be.  This  music  had  a 
very  singular  effect  upon  most  of  those  who  did 
not  succeed  in  singing  it.  They  nearly  all  went 
crazy.  The  first  few  notes  were  easy,  and  they 
were  so  beautiful,  that  it  was  enough  to  make  any 
one  crazy  to  think  that  they  could  not  sing  the 
rest  of  it,  —  not  to  mention  missing  the  crown. 
The  Prime  Minister  had,  on  this  account,  a  great 
asylum  built,  to  which  the  disappointed  candidates 
ivere  immediately  conveyed,  and  the  house  was 
very  soon  filled.  Indeed,  it  was  often  necessary  to 


86  TING-A-LIXO. 

build  extensions  to  the  main  building,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  this  was  the  largest  edifice  in  the 
country.  It  is  true,  that  although  every  one  failed 
to  sing  the  music,  they  did  not  all  go  crazy ;  but 
they  were  taken  to  the  asylum  the  same  as  the 
rest,  and  if  they  were  not  crazy  when  they  got 
there,  they  soon  became  so,  and  thus  it  amounted 
to  pretty  much  the  same  thing  in  the  end.  Well, 
the  judges  sat  in  their  chairs  until  they  died  at  a 
good  old  age,  and  they  were  succeeded  by  others 
just  as  learned.  Latterly  there  were  not  so  many 
applications  as  there  used  to  be,  but  still,  every 
few  days,  some  one  went  out  to  the  asylum.  Years 
passed,  and  the  offices  of  the  judges  became  sine 
cures  ;  but  they  had  to  sit  there  all  the  same,  just 
as  if  they  expected  to  be  busy ;  and  they  might 
have  been  seen,  whenever  anybody  chose  to  step 
in  during  the  day,  sitting  there  with  their  chins 
on  their  breasts,  fast  asleep.  The  Prime  Minister, 
and  after  him  his  son,  ruled  the  country  very  well, 
and  people  began  to  feel  as  if  they  didn't  care  if 
they  never  had  a  king  or  a  queen  to  govern  them. 
As  a  rule,  they  all  felt  very  comfortable  without 
anything  of  the  kind. 

Now  it  so  happened  that  about  this  time  a  cer 
tain  young  Prince,  accompanied  by  an  old  gentle- 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  89 

man  (to  take  care  of  him),  was  travelling  in  this 
great  kingdom.  His  father's  dominion  was  very 
many  miles  away ;  but  the  Prince  had  been  jour 
neying  in  this  direction  for  quite  a  long  time, 
taking  things  easily,  and  seeing  everything  that 
was  to  be  seen.  His  mother  had  died  when  he  was 
quite  young,  and  his  father  had  lately  married  the 
daughter  of  a  gnome,  probably  because  their  es 
tates  joined,  —  his  stretching  for  many  miles  over 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  while  hers  lay  immedi 
ately  beneath  them.  The  Prince  did  not  like  his 
gnome  step-mother  (who  was,  you  know,  one  of 
those  large  underground  fairies,  who  are  more  like 
human  beings  than  any  others),  and  when  a  little 
gnome-baby  was  born,  he  could  stand  it  no  longer, 
and  so  obtained  permission  of  his  father  to  travel 
for  the  good  of  his  body  and  mind.  So  he  had 
been  going  from  country  to  country  until  lie 
reached  the  capital  city  of  the  great  kingdom. 

There  the  Prince  saw  enough  to  fill  him  with 
wonder  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  His  old  friend, 
Trumkard,  took  him  day  by  day  into  the  bazaars, 
and  the  palaces,  and  the  mosques,  and  hundreds  of 
places  just  as  nice.  One  beautiful  evening  the 
Prince  set  out  for  a  walk  by  himself  through  the 
city.  The  gentle  twilight  still  tinged  the  sky  with 


60  TING-A-LING. 

gold,  and  the  soft  breeze  from  the  river,  that 
passed  through  fruit-gardens  and  vineyards  on  its 
way  to  the  city,  smelt  of  peaches,  and  grapes,  and 
plums,  and  oranges,  and  pomegranates,  and  pine 
apples,  and  was  truly  very  delicious.  Everything 
was  lovely,  and  the  Prince  felt  good  and  happy. 
The  very  beggars,  when  he  had  passed  them, 
blessed  the  happy  stars  that  had  caused  them  to 
be  born  during  his  life-time,  so  noble  and  gener 
ous  was  the  Prince  this  evening.  Strolling  along, 
he  came  to  the  palace  of  the  mighty  King.  The 
Prince  knew  the  palace ;  for  Trumkard  had  taken 
him  into  it,  and  had  shown  him  the  six  judges  sit 
ting  in  their  velvet  chairs,  and  the  magical  music 
hanging  up  against  the  marble  tablet  between 
them.  He  knew  all  about  the  music,  and  the  con 
ditions  attached  to  it,  but,  not  being  much  of  a 
musician,  he  had  never  felt  inclined  to  try  it.  So 
he  walked  through  the  royal  courts  and  vestibules, 
and  into  the  great  hall  where  stood  the  six  chairs, 
—  empty,  and  covered  with  silken  covers  to  keep 
the  dust  off  during  the  night.  And  the  music 
was  concealed  by  a  great  plate  of  gold  which  was 
locked  over  it  every  night.  He  met  but  few 
persons ;  for  every  one  who  was  not  detained  by 
some  particular  duty,  had  gone  out-of-doors  that 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  91 

lovely  night.  Here  and  there,  a  porter,  or  a  black 
eunuch,  or  a  soldier  or  two,  he  met ;  but  as  every 
one  who  saw  him,  knew  him  instantly  for  a  prince 
of  good  blood,  he  could,  of  course,  wander  where 
he  pleased.  He  passed  on  among  the  golden  col 
umns  and  sculptured  doorways,  and  under  vaulted 
and  arabesque  ceilings,  until  he  came  to  a  door  of 
mother-of-pearl,  which  had  a  golden  lock,  an  ala 
baster  knob,  and  a  diamond  key-hole.  It  turned 
easily  on  silver  hinges,  and  the  Prince  passed  by  it 
into  a  beautiful  garden.  He  had  never  been  hi 
such  a  place  of  loveliness.  The  trees  were  hung 
with  many  soft-colored  lamps,  and  the  fruit  glit 
tered  and  shone  in  gorgeous  colors  on  the  branches. 
Every  night-bird  sang,  and  every  night-flower  was 
giving  forth  its  fragrance.  In  the  middle  of  the 
garden  was  a  fountain,  the  waters  of  which  rose  in 
a  single  jet  from  the  centre,  and  then,  as  they  fell 
back  into  the  basin,  each  of  their  thousand  drops 
struck  upon  a  silver  harp-string,  causing  the  most 
delightful  sounds  to  fill  the  air,  and  mingle  with 
the  songs  of  the  birds  and  the  perfume  of  the 
flowers.  Around  the  great  basin  were  silken  cush 
ions  on  which  the  Prince  reclined,  and  the  gold 
fish  that  were  swimming  in  the  basin  came  up 
to  him  to  be  fed.  There  also  came  the  ruby 


92  TING-A-LING. 

fish,  that  slimes  as  red  as  blood,  and  the  zimphare, 
or  transparent  fish,  which  is  as  colorless  as  the 
water,  and  can  only  be  discovered  by  a  green  knot 
on  its  head  and  another  on  its  tail. 

There  were  also  many  other  fish,  as  the  balance- 
fish,  which  comes  up  to  the  top  of  the  water 
equally  balanced,  having  at  each  end  of  its  body 
expansions  like  the  pans  of  scales.  These  are  its 
mouths,  and  if  one  puts  a  crumb  into  one  of  them 
without  having  put  one  into  the  other,  it  turns 
right  over,  and  sinks  to  the  bottom.  So,  when  this 
fish  is  properly  fed,  it  always  gets  two  crumbs  at  a 
time.  Then  there  was  the  gelatine  fish,  that  has 
no  mouth  at  all,  but  is  very  soft  and  pulpy,  and  all 
that  is  necessary  is  to  drop  some  crumbs  upon  his 
back,  and  they  immediately  soak  in.  Also  the 
great  flob  was  there,  who  came  clattering  and 
clanking  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  basin,  with  his 
hard  shells  and  heavy  claws,  as  if  he  was  the  great 
est  fish  alive.  But  for  all  that  he  opened  his 
mouth  so  wide,  and  shut  it  upon  a  little  crumb 
with  a  snap  loud  enough  for  a  loaf  of  bread,  his 
throat  was  so  small  that  that  little  crumb  nearly 
choked  him.  All  these  fishes  the  Prince  fed  from 
golden  baskets  filled  with  crumbs,  and  placed 
around  the  basin  for  the  convenience  of  those  who 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  93 

wished  to  amuse  themselves  by  feeding  the  fish. 
When  he  was  tired  of  this  sport,  he  rose  and  en 
tered  the  palace  again  by  another  door.  He  had 
not  walked  far  along  an  alabaster  corridor,  before 
he  saw  a  door  open,  and  an  old  woman  come  out. 
She  had  in  her  hand  a  silver  waiter,  on  which  was 
the  remains  of  a  delicious  little  supper,  the  scent 
of  which  seemed  so  charming  to  the  Prince  that 
it  made  him  feel  as  hungry  as  a  bear  in  the  spring 
time.  The  old  woman,  who  was  busy  munching 
some  of  the  pieces  of  cake,  and  sucking  the  bones 
of  the  little  birds  that  were  left,  did  not  notice 
him;  and,  hoping  to  find  some  more  good  things 
where  these  came  from,  he  slipped  in  at  the  door, 
before  the  old  woman  shut  it,  and  entered  a  large 
and  beautiful  room,  lighted  by  a  single  lamp  that 
hnng  from  the  ceiling.  At  the  upper  end  of  this 
apartment,  he  was  surprised  to  see  a  beautiful 
young  Princess,  who  was  sitting  in  an  arm-chair, 
fast  asleep,  with  a  guitar  on  the  floor  at  her  feet. 
Around  the  room  were  placed  musical  instruments 
of  all  kinds ;  but  there  was  no  one  there  to  play 
on  them  but  the  Princess,  and  she  was  fast  asleep. 
There  was  a  breeze  in  the  room,  that  seemed  to 
come  and  go  like  the  waves  of  the  sea;  and  the 
Prince  could  not  imagine  what  occasioned  it,  for 


94  TING-A-LING. 

all  the  doors  and  windows  were  closed.  However, 
looking  upwards,  lie  saw,  behind  the  Princess's 
chair,  the  reason  of  the  wind  and  the  lady's  slum 
ber.  Standing1  behind  her,  with  his  feet  on  the 
floor  and  his  head  high  up  in  the  obscurity  of 
the  ceiling,  was  a  great  Nimshee,  or  evil  spirit  of 
the  ocean,  who  was  fanning  her  with  his  wings, 
and  had  put  her  to  sleep  with  their  slow  and 
dreamy  motion.  With  his  great  eyes  glowing  like 
meteors  in  the  dimness  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
room,  the  Nimshee  glared  at  the  Prince,  and  waved 
his  wings  faster  and  stronger.  But  our  young 
friend  was  not  afraid  of  him  —  not  a  bit.  He 
walked  softly  round  the  room  once  or  twice,  and 
then,  returning  to  the  Princess,  spoke  to  her.  She 
did  not  awake,  and  the  Prince  called  her  louder 
and  louder,  and  at  last,  putting  his  hand  on  her 
shoulder,  he  shook  her ;  but  still  she  slept.  He 
felt  that  he  must  awaken  her,  and  seizing  the 
guitar  that  lay  at  her  feet,  he  held  it  close  to  her 
ear,  and  struck  the  strings  loudly.  The  Princess 
opened  her  eyes  with  a  start;  and  as  she  awoke, 
the  Nimshee,  beating  his  breast  with  his  wings, 
gave  a  great  roar  like  the  waves  beating  in  a  storm 
against  a  rocky  coast,  and  flew  away.  The  Princess 
olushed  a  little  when  she  first  saw  the  Prince,  but 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  95 

he  was  so  polite  that  she  soon  recovered  herself, 
and  they  conversed  quite  pleasantly. 

She  explained  the  meaning  of  the  musical  instru 
ments  in  the  room,  by  stating  that  she  had  a  great 
passion  for  music,  and  the  good  people  of  the  pal 
ace  brought  her  a  new  instrument  nearly  every 
day  ;  but  she  never  sat  down  to  play  any  of  them 
but  she  went  almost  immediately  to  sleep.  She 
could  not  imagine  the  reason  for  this;  but  the 
Prince  knew  very  well  that  the  Nimshee  had  put 
her  to  sleep  to-day  at  any  rate,  and  he  had  no 
doubt  but  that  he  was  always  at  the  bottom  of  it. 
He  said  nothing  to  her,  however,  of  what  he  had 
seen,  as  he  perceived  that  she  did  not  know  it,  and 
he  did  not  wish  to  frighten  her. 

She  said  she  had  taken  her  guitar  that  evening, 
as  soon  as  she  had  finished  her  supper,  but  had 
fallen  asleep  as  usual.  She  asked  the  Prince,  "Do 
you  play?"  and  he  said,  "  Only  a  little;"  and  then 
they  walked  around  the  room,  and  looked  at  ail 
the  instruments,  to  see  if  there  were  any  that  the 
Prince  could  play  rn  better  than  the  rest.  He 
wished  her  to  perform,  but  she  urged  him,  and 
he  soon  saw  a  hand-organ,  and  said  he  was  pretty 
sure  that  he  could  play  on  that.  So  he  tried,  and, 
sure  enough,  he  could  play  very  well,  and  the 


96  TIXG-A-LING. 

Princess  sat  down  on  the  floor  by  him,  and  he 
played  for  almost  an  hour  and  three  quarters, 
and  they  were  both  very  much  pleased.  Then  the 
Prince's  arm  got  tired,  and  he  stopped  and  asked 
the  Princess  to  tell  him  her  history.  She  said  she 
was  a  little  ashamed  to  tell  him  her  story,  because 


he  might  think  that  she  was  not  of  as  good 
descent  as  himself;  but  the  Prince  insisting,  she 
(old  him  that  her  mother  was  a  water-woman. 

"A  mermaid,  I  suppose?"  said  the  Prince. 

"  O  no !  "  she  cried,  "  none  of  those  low  things 
with  fish-tails,  bat  a  real  princess  of  the  ocean. 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  97 

She  lived  in  a  splendid  palace  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  and  fell  in  love  with  a  prince  of  the 
earth,  who  left  his  father's  kingdom,  and  went 
down  there  and  married  her. 

"  I  remember  my  father  very  well,"  continued 
the  beautiful  Princess.  "  He  was  a  fine,  hand 
some  man,  but  our  climate  never  seemed  to  agree 
with  him.  He  could  not  smoke  under  the  water, 
and  he  often  used  to  have  aches  which  helped  to 
make  him  unhappy.  Before  he  died,  he  said  that 
he  would  give  all  the  treasures  of  the  ocean  for 
a  pipe  and  a  piece  of  dry  flannel.  When  he  left 
her,  mother  pined  away,  and  soon  died  too,  when 
I  was  only  about  twelve  years  old.  I  was  very 
lonely,  but,  as  I  was  the  daughter  of  a  water- 
princess  and  a  land-prince,  I  could  go  where  I 
pleased,  either  on  shore  or  in  the  water." 

"Amphibious  like?"  said  the  Prince. 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  that,"  she  re 
plied  ;  "  but  I  used  to  like  to  walk  about  on  the 
sea-shore,  for  everything  was  so  different  from 
what  I  had  been  accustomed  to,  —  birds,  you 
know,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing." 

"  0  yes,"  said  the  Prince,  "  it  must  have  been 
very  different  to  you  indeed ;  but  1  was  going  to 
say  to  you,  a  little  while  ago,  that  you  need  not 


98  TING-A-LING. 

think  me  above  you,  for  I  am  half-brother  to  a 
gnome." 

"  0,  I  am  glad  to  hear  that,"  she  said  ;  "  I  was 
afraid  you  would  make  fun  of  me.'' 

"  As  if  I  could !  "  said  the  Prince,  reproachfully. 

So  she  went  on  with  her  story. 

"  One  day,  about  a  year  ago,  when  I  was  quite 
grown  up,  I  met  some  ladies  who  lived  here  at 
the  palace,  and  they  wanted  me  to  come  home 
with  them,  and  I  did ;  and  I  have  lived  here  ever 
since,  and  like  it  very  much.  They  are  all  very 
kind,  and  if  I  didn't  sleep  so  much,  I  should  be 
very  happy." 

The  Prince  now  proposed  to  the  Princess,  and 
she  accepted  him,  and  then  she  sat  down  to  a 
harp  to  give  him  a  little  music.  The  Prince's 
presence,  in  some  way  (perhaps  because  he  was 
half-brother  to  a  gnome),  prevented  the  appear 
ance  of  the  Nimshee ;  and  for  the  first  time  since 
she  had  been  in  the  palace,  she  played  without 
hindrance,  and  her  music  was  perfectly  charming; 
and  with  tears  of  joy  in  his  eyes,  the  Prince  sat 
wishing  she  would  play  forever.  After  a  while, 
however,  she  got  tired  and  stopped;  and  when 
they  turned  around,  they  saw  the  room  was  filled 
by  the  people  of  the  palace,  who  had  come  to 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  99 

hear  this  delicious  music.  They  were  nearly  all 
wiping  their  eyes  with  their  handkerchiefs,  —  they 
•were  so  much  affected,  —  and  they  could  not  find 
words  good  enough  with  which  to  praise  the 
playing  of  the  Princess.  Such  music  they  had 
never  heard  before. 

Directly  she  declared  that  she  was  going  to 
bed ;  but  she  desired  the  Grand  Chamberlain  to 
take  that  young  Prince  and  give  him  a  handsome 
room  until  morning,  when  she  would  like  to  see 
him  again,  and  make  arrangements  for  their 
wedding. 

So  she  went  away  with  her  ladies,  and  the 
Chamberlain  took  the  Prince  out  into  the  alabaster 
hall  again. 

"  Prince  indeed  !  "  said  the  Chamberlain  to  him 
self;  "  0  yes  !  I'll  take  care  of  him,  certainly.  A 
good  room,  —  O  yes,  indeed  !  "  and,  taking  the 
Prince  by  the  arm,  he  hurried  him  along,  until 
he  came  to  the  aviary,  where  all  sorts  of  wonder 
ful  and  costly  birds  were  kept,  and  he  pushed 
him  in  there,  and  locked  him  up.  The  Prince 
was  so  taken  by  surprise  at  this  hasty  treatment, 
that  he  had  no  time  to  get  angry,  or  he  would 
certainly  have  drawn  his  sword,  and  made  short 
work  of  the  Grand  Chamberlain.  As  it  was,  he 


100  TING-A-LING. 

passed  the  night  in  the  aviary  as  well  as  he  could  ; 
but  as  he  had  no  place  to  lie  but  the  floor,  and 
as  the  ostriches  walked  about  a  good  deal,  he  was 
very  much  afraid  they  might  tread  upon  him,  and 
this  made  him  feel  uneasy  all  night.  The  great 
owls,  too,  made  it  very  unpleasant  for  him,  by 
forming  a  circle  around  him,  and  steadfastly  gaz 
ing  at  him  with  their  great'  eyes,  which  looked 
like  enormous  cat-eyes,  stuck  into  the  darkness. 
As  to  the  night-hawks  and  the  other  birds  which 
fly  in  the  dark,  they  swooped  around  and  over 
him  the  whole  livelong  night;  and  when  he 
began  to  get  a  little  sleep,  about  daybreak,  every 
bird  in  the  place  began  to  sing,  or  twitter,  or 
scream,  or  crow,  or  gobble,  or  chatter,  and  the 
Prince  might  as  well  have  tried  to  fly  as  sleep. 
About  eight  o'clock,  a  man  came  to  feed  the  birds, 
and  seeing  the  Prince  in  the  aviary,  he  put  him 
out  instantly.  The  Prince  was  very  angry,  and 
tried  to  find  out  what  this  all  meant ;  but  the  man 
told  him  he  had  better  not  let  him  catch  him  in 
there  again,  and  slammed  the  door  in  his  face. 
As  the  Prince  wandered  about  the  palace,  he  met 
a  number  of  people,  all  of  whom  he  asked  to  con 
duct  him  to  the  Princess.  Some  laughed  at  him, 
and  others  told  him  that  he  had  better  be  careful 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  101 

how  he  talked  about  the  heautiful   Princess,  but 
no  one  conducted  him  to  her. 

At  last  a  man  who  seemed  to  have  some  author 
ity,  came  up  to  the  Prince,  and,  having  heard 
his  story,  requested  him  to  follow  him.  He  led 
the  way  to  a  small  door,  ami,  motioning  to  the 
Prince  to  pass  through  it,  shut  and  fastened  it 
after  him.  The  Prince  found  himself  out  in  the 
street. 

Enraged  and  hungry,  he  hurried  back  to  his 
lodgings,  where  he  had  left  Trumkard.  On  the 
way,  he  heard  a  great  many  people  talking  of  the 
beautiful  music  that,  it  was  reported,  the  Princess 
had  played  at  the  palace  the  evening  previous. 
In  fact,  this  matter  seemed  to  be  the  town  talk  ; 
but  the  Prince  did  not  stay  to  listen  to  much  of 
it,  for  he  was  extremely  anxious  to  get  something 
to  eat,  and  to  relate  his  troubles. 

Trumkard  did  not  encourage  him  much,  and 
proposed  that  they  should  continue  their  journey  ; 
but  the  Prince  would  not  listen  to  such  advice, 
and  as  soon  as  he  had  finished  his  breakfast,  he 
went  back  to  the  palace  in  order  to  try  and  see 
his  Princess.  But  all  the  doors  were  fastened, 
dnd  it  was  evident  that  there  was  no  admission 
for  the  public  that  day.  A  great  crowd  stood 


102  TING-A-LING. 

around  the  gates,  and  they  were  very  much  excited 
about  something1. 

The  Prince  learned  from  their  discourse  that 
it  was  thought  that  the  Princess  who  played  so 
splendidly,  could  certainly  sing  as  well,  and  there 
was  a  suspicion  that  the  Prime  Minister,  who 
had  governed  the  people  so  long,  was  afraid  of 
her  powers,  and  had  sent  her  away.  Indeed,  a 
certain  Habbed-il-Gabbed,  who  kept  a  goafs- 
cheese  shop,  and  who  had  a  cousin  who  was  one 
of  the  royal-black-eunuch-guards,  had  heard  from 
him  that  the  Princess  had  certainly  disappeared, 
and  that  the  public  suspicions  were  very  likely 
to  be  correct. 

At  this  news  the  Prince  smote  his  breast,  and 
became  very  sad ;  and  all  that  day  and  night,  and 
the  next  day  until  sundown,  he  hung  around  the 
palace,  hoping  to  get  in.  Trumkard  was  with 
him  a  great  part  of  the  time,  and  brought  him 
cakes  and  things  to  keep  him  from  starving.  In 
the  early  evening  of  the  second  day,  the  Prince, 
while  walking  round  the  palace,  saw  a  boy  come 
out  of  a  back-alley  gate,  to  empty  some  ashes. 
Rushing  at  him,  he  seized  him,  and  demanded  of 
him  news  of  the  Princess.  The  boy,  however,  was 
deaf  and  dumb,  and  could  not  answer  him ;  and 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  103 

the  Prince  perceiving  this,  and  being  very  expert 
in  making  signs,  asked  him  in  that  way  what 
had  become  of  his  lady-love.  The  boy  then  replied 
by  a  sign  representing  a  heavy  door,  with  four 
locks,  a  big  bar,  and  a  chain ;  and  a  black  eunuch 
with  a  drawn  sword,  asleep  before  it. 

Then  the  Prince  tore  his  hair,  and  groaned,  and 
went  home  to  Truiukard.  But  he  could  not  sleep ; 
and  when  tbe  moon  arose,  he  got  up  and  wandered 
far  away  beyond  the  walls  of  the  city,  until  he 
came  to  the  borders  of  the  sea.  There  he  saw, 
roaming  about  upon  the  sands,  numbers  of  water- 
women,  who  every  now  and  then  blew  upon  conch- 
shells,  looking  about  them  in  every  direction,  as 
if  they  expected  some  one  to  answer  them.  When 
the  Prince  perceived  them,  he  slipped  softly  from 
rock  to  rock,  keeping  himself  well  concealed,  un 
til  he  came  near  one  of  them,  when  he  made  a 
sudden  rush  and  caught  her,  while  all  the  others, 
with  loud  cries,  dashed  into  the  sea.  The  one 
hrt  had  captured,  struggled  -and  cried  piteously ; 
but,  in  as  few  words  as  possible,  he  entreated  her 
to  be  quiet,  and  to  understand  that  if  she  was 
\ooking  for  a  Princess,  he  could  tell  her  where 
she  was,  or  at  least  where  she  had  been.  The 
water-woman  then  became  quiet,  and  the  Prince 


104  TING-A-LING. 

told  her  all  he  knew,  and  how  anxious  he  was  to 
find  the  beautiful  Princess.  The  good  woman  of 
the  sea  then  told  him  that  she  and  her  compan 
ions  had  come  up  on  the  shore  every  night  for  a 
year,  hoping  that  the  Princess  would  stray  that 
way,  and  be  induced  by  them  to  return  to  he'r 
ocean  home.  Then  she  told  him  who  the  Princess 
really  was,  and  thus  her  story  ran. 

When  the  late  mighty  King,  Barradin,  was 
quite  young,  he  married  a  daughter  of  the  ocean, 
at  which  his  father,  much  incensed,  drove  him 
from  the  court.  He  retired  far  from  men,  and 
a  little  sou  was  born  to  him.  In  a  few  years  his 
wife  died,  and  he  was  left  alone  with  his  son. 
When  this  boy  grew  up,  he  also  married  a  water- 
woman,  and,  having  so  much  of  their  blood  in 
his  veins,  he  went  down  to  live  with  his  wife's 
relations,  leaving  his  father  to  do  as  well  as  he 
could  by, himself,  until  he  ascended  the  throne. 
When  Barradin  became  king,  he  did  not  marry 
a  queen,  or  cut  off  people's  heads,  or  go  to  war, 
or  build  palaces;  but  he  took  his  chief  delight 
in  music,  and  encouraged  the  love  of  it  among 
his  people.  So  it  was  in  the  hope  that  one  of 
his  descendants  might  some  day  sit  upon  the 
throne,  that  he  composed  the  magical  music ;  for 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  105 

he  knew  that  no  one'  but  a  desc.e«dant  of  the 
ocean-folk  could  sing1  that  music,  and  none  but 
those  of  his  blood  could  read  it,  for  there  was 
magic  in  his  family. 

When  the  music  was  finished,  the  King1  died. 
His  mother  was  a  sorceress,  and  a  very  wicked 
old  woman,  who,  when  her  sou  was  dead,  gave  it 
out  that  she  herself  was  dying ;  for  she  had  now 
lived  so  long  that  people  had  begun  to  suspect 
something,  and  to  think  that  she  had  too  much 
to  do  with  magic.  So  she  pretended  to  die,  and 
was  buried  in  the  royal  vault ;  and  at  night  she 
came  out  and  went  far  away  from  the  city  to  a 
great  cave  in  a  lonely  country  where  dwelt  the 
demons  and  evil  spirits  who  were  her  servants. 
She  now  spent  her  life  in  wickedness.  She  it 
was  who  put  it  into  the  heads  of  so  many  sensible 
people  to  contend  for  the  crown,  and  it  was  with 
joy  that  she  saw  them  carried  out  to  the  asylum. 
Many  other  evil  thoughts  she  put  into  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  and  she  was  forever  imagining  and 
doing  mischief. 

When  this  young  Princess,  her  great-grand 
child,  was  born,  Mahbracca  (that  was  the  name  of 
the  old  sorceress)  was  very  much  troubled,  and 
used  all  available  means  to  destroy  the  infant;  but 


106  TING-A-LING. 

her  efforts  were  vain,  for  the  people  of  the  ocean 
protected  her  from  all  enchantments. 

As  the  Princess  grew  up,  she  loved  to  ramble  on 
the  white  sands,  and  she  was  once  perceived  there 
hy  a  party  of  ladies  from  the  palace,  who  had 
persuaded  her  to  come  with  them  to  their  royal 
home,  where  she  had  now  been  for  a  year.  She 
knew  not  who  she  was,  nor  did  her  friends  at  the 
palace ;  and  her  relations  of  the  ocean  had  always 
hoped  that  some  day  she  would  return  to  them. 
Now  the  sorceress  feared  that  some  day  she  would 
happen  to  sing  the  magical  music,  and  be  made 
queen;  and  she  hated  the  poor  girl  so  much,  that 
she  would  not  have  had  this  happen  for  all  the 
world.  Therefore  it  was,  no  doubt,  that  she  had 
sent  the  Nimshee,  in  order  to  prevent  the  Prin 
cess  from  ever  exercising  the  wonderful  gift  she 
had  inherited. 

This  much  the  water-woman  told  the  Prince, 
but  as  to  what  had  now  become  of  the  Princess, 
she  did  not  know ;  but  there  were  others  of  her 
people  who  knew  more  than  she  did,  and  she  would 
inquire  of  them.  Taking  the  Prince  by  the  hand, 
she  led  him  out  upon  a  headland  that  projected 
some  distance  out  into  the  sea,  and  blew  four  times 
loudly  upon  her  conch-shell.  A  great  heaving  and 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  107 

swelling  of  the  waters  was  presently  seen,  and  in 
a  few  moments  an  elderly  personage  emerged  from 
the  waves,  and  walked  carefully  up  to  the  rock  on 
which  they  stood.  He  was  a  curious-looking  in 
dividual,  and,  as  the  water-woman  informed  the 
Prince,  a  powerful  lord  of  the  ocean. 

He  was  wrapped  in  an  old-fashioned  cloak,  made 
of  the  finest  quality  of  sea-weed,  and  drawing  this 
closely  around  him,  he  requested  his  fair  cousin  of 
the  sea  to  be  as  quick  as  possible  in  her  business 
with  him,  as  it  was  not  prudent  for  him  to  be  in 
the  air  much  at  his  age.  So  the  water-woman 
briefly  related  to  him  what  the  Prince  had  told 
her. 

When  he  heard  this,  the  old  sea-gentleman 
folded  his  arms  and  looked  very  grave.  "  Mah- 
bracca  is  at  the  bottom  of  this,"  said  he.  "  The 
Prime  Minister  would  never  have  thought  of  im 
prisoning  the  Princess,  if  that  wretched  sorceress 
had  not  put  it  into  his  head.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  she  now  has  the  Princess  in  her  power,  and 
very  likely  shut  up  in  her  retreat." 

"  What !  "  cried  the  Prince,  "  where  is  it  ? 
Where  is  her  cave?  I  will  go  instantly  and  res 
cue  my  beloved  Princess!  "  and  he  drew  his  sword 
of  adamant  and  waved  it  over  his  head. 


108  TING-A-LING. 

"  All  my  friend  !  "  said  the  old  man  of  the  water, 
"you  could  do  little  against  the  powerful  Mah- 
bracca  and  her  minions.  But  you  might  go  there 
to  be  sure,  and  find  out  if  she  really  has  possession 
of  the  Princess.  But  then  you  may  lose  your  life." 

"  I  care  not !  "  cried  the  Prince.  "  Dead  or 
alive,  I  will  be  with  my  Princess." 

The  two  citizens  of  the  ocean  talked  together  a 
few  moments,  and  then  the  old  man  asked  him  if 
he  was  really  determined  to  undertake  this  peril 
ous  enterprise,  and  the  Prince  emphatically  de 
clared  that  he  was. 

"  The  distance  by  the  sea  is  much  the  shortest; 
would  you  be  willing  to  go  in  that  way?"  asked 
the  old  man. 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  Prince,  "  provided  I  have 
to  go  over,  and  not  under  the  water." 

The  old  gentleman  made  no  reply  to  this,  but 
putting  his  two  forefingers  in  his  mouth  he  whis 
tled  loudly. 

In  a  few  moments  a  sea-boy  came  up  out  of  the 
water,  and  stood  beside  him.  The  old  man  made 
a  few  remarks  to  him  in  the  ocean  dialect,  when 
the  boy  jumped  off  the  rock  and  disappeared  be 
neath  the  waves. 

"  Now,  sir,"  said  the  sea-gentleman  to  the  Prince, 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  109 

"  you  must  cheer  up  and  be  lively,  or  you  cannot 
hope  to  succeed  in  this  matter.  My  boy  will  take 
you  to  the  sea-side  entrance  of  the  cave  of  Mah- 
bracca.  There  I  hope  you  will  have  no  difficulty 
in  entering,  but  I  can  say  nothing  positive  upon 
the  subject." 

At  this  moment  the  sea-boy  reappeared,  driving 
a  pair  of  dolphins,  which  were  harnessed  to  a  large 
and  commodious  sea-shell,  somewhat  resembling 
in  shape  the  boat  of  the  nautilus. 

When  the  equipage  was  drawn  up  at  the  foot  of 
the  rock,  the  Prince  took  leave  of  his  friends,  and 
quickly  stepped  in  and  took  his  seat. 

"  I  wish  you  all  success,"  said  the  elderly  per 
sonage,  and,  reminding  the  boy  to  be  sure  to  keep 
their  heads  up,  he  walked  down  into  the  sea. 

The  water-woman  said  nothing,  but  stood  on  the 
rock,  gazing  sadly  after  the  Prince,  as  the  dolphins 
drew  him  rapidly  from  the  shore.  The  fishes  made 
excellent  time,  and  the  motion  of  the  great  shell 
over  the  waves  would  have  been  exceedingly  pleas 
ant  to  the  Prince,  if  his  mind  had  not  been  filled 
with  anxiety  and  impatience.  He  shifted  his  posi 
tion  so  often,  and  rolled  the  vehicle  about  so  much, 
that  once  or  twice  the  sea-boy  turned  round  and 
asked  him  if  he  did  not  wish  to  get  out,  to  which 


110  TING-A-LING. 

the  Prince  did  not  reply,  but  only  urged  him  to 
make  greater  speed.  The  journey  lasted  until  the 
morning  of  the  next  day,  and  was  marked  by  no 
greater  occurrence  than  the  annoyance  caused  by 
the  wild  dolphins  occasionally  coming  up  around 
them,  endeavoring  to  play  with  their  brothers  in 
harness.  But  the  boy,  with  his  whip  of  shark's 
skin,  and  the  Prince  with  his  sword,  soon  drove 
them  down  again. 

At  last  they  dashed  into  shore,  and  the  sea-boy, 
pulling  up  his  steeds,  jumped  out,  followed  imme 
diately  by  the  Prince. 

"  Take  the  road  in  front  of  you,"  said  the  boy, 
"  and  you  cannot  miss  your  way." 

The  Prince  then  threw  a  piece  of  platinum  to 
the  boy,  who  tucked  it  in  between  two  of  his  scales, 
and  jumping  into  his  shell,  drove  rapidly  away. 

The  shore  where  the  Prince  now  found  himself 
was  very  peculiar.  A  high  rocky  wall,  seemingly 
inaccessible,  stood  up  solemnly  in  front  of  him, 
and  extended  out,  on  each  side,  far  into  the  sea. 
Directly  before  him  was  a  great  cleft  or  tunnel  in 
the  rock,  which  extended  so  far  back  that  its  other 
extremity  was  not  visible  from  where  he  stood. 
This  rocky  avenue  was  the  only  passage,  in  any  di 
rection,  that  the  Prince  could  perceive,  and  conse- 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC. 


Ill 


quently,  without  delay  or  fear,  he  drew  his  sword, 
and  entered  it.  The  way  for  a  while  was  easy,  but 
afterward  became  very  rough  and  uneven.  Here 
and  there  were  openings  in  the  walls  above  him, 


through  which  came  a  misty  light ;  and  by  it  the 
Prince  perceived  that  the  walls  were  filled  with 
precious  stones,  which  glistened  and  sparkled 
brightly,  while  great  veins  of  gold  and  silver  were 
streaked  about  in  all  directions.  Under  his  feet 


112  TING-A-LING. 

were  thousands  of  jewels,  and  bits  of  precious  min 
erals  without  number.  His  way  was  now  very 
difficult,  for  the  avenue  was  narrow  and  rough. 
Pearls  and  sapphires  got  into  his  shoes,  and  he  cut 
his  legs  and  scratched  his  hands  against  the  sharp 
diamonds  and  rubies  that  stuck  out  from  the  walls. 
But  he  pressed  bravely  on  until  the  ground  became 
more  even  and  the  walls  wider  apart,  and  at  length 
he  entered  quite  an  open  space,  inclosed  by  a  wall 
in  which  he  saw  before  him  an  immense  gate  of 
copper.  He  went  up  and  tried  to  push  it  open, 
but  finding  it  immovable,  he  knocked  loudly  upon 
it  with  the  hilt  of  his  sword.  Directly,  a  small 
window  at  one  side  of  the  gate  was  opened,  and 
a  ghoul  put  his  head  out.  Seeing  that  it  was  a 
Prince  who  knocked,  he  drew  in  his  head,  and 
opened  the  gate.  The  Pfince  quickly  entered. 
"I  wish,"  said  he,  in  an  imperious  voice,  "to 
see  the  Princess  whom  the  wicked  Mahbracca  has 
doubtless  imprisoned  in  this  cavern." 

"0!"  said  the  ghoul,  grinning  horribly,  "cer 
tainly  !  Pass  on,  great  Prince !  The  Princess  and 
my  mistress  will  both  be  glad  to  see  you.  Pass  on 
freely.  You  cannot  miss  your  way."  Opening 
then  his  wide  mouth,  he  gave  a  great  laugh,  and 
reentered  the  porter's  lodge,  through  the  open 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  113 

door  of  which   the  Prince  saw,  upon  a  table,  an 
empty  coffin  and  a  jug-. 

The  Prince  now  found  himself  in  a  long  and  wide 
passage,  dimly  lighted  and  very  damp.  The  place 
smelt  like  a  burial  vault,  and  against  the  walls  on 
each  side,  rows  of  ghouls  sat  on  the  floor,  their 
knees  drawn  up  to  their  chins.  As  the  Prince 
passed,  some  of  them  jumped  up  and  gibed  at  him, 
leering,  sticking  out  their  tongues,  and  smacking 
their  lips  as  they  danced  around  him.  Walking 
on  rapidly,  he  soon  left  these  gibbering  wretches, 
and  found  that  the  passage  became  much  drier, 
although  darker,  and  wound  and  turned  in  various 
directions.  Against  the  walls,  transfixed  by  great 
iron  pins,  were  enormous  glow-worms,  which  gave 
the  only  light  in  this  dismal  place.  These  worms 
turned  their  heads  to  look  at  the  Prince,  and 
flashed  a  brighter  light  from  their  tails,  that  they 
might  see  him  the  better.  Presently  he  noticed 
a  small  door  in  the  wall,  which  was  not  quite 
closed.  Pushing  it  open,  he  entered  a  room,  the 
floor  of  which  was  not  very  spacious,  but  which 
was  very  high.  Against  one  of  the  walls,  chained 
by  his  arms  and  his  wings  and  his  legs,  was  the 
Nimshee  who  had  fanned  the  Princess  with  his 
sleep-giving  wings. 


114  TING-A-LING. 

When  this  evil  spirit  saw  the  Prince,  his  eyes 
glowed  so  brightly  that  they  lighted  up  the  room 
as  if  they  had  been  torches ;  and,  putting  down  his 
horrid  head  as  low  as  his  bonds  would  allow,  he 
opened  wide  his  nostrils  and  his  mouth,  and  bel 
lowed  with  fury,  like  an  immense  bull,  —  at  the 
same  time  tugging  and  struggling  at  his  chains, 
until  the  very  walls  shook  with  his  raging  strength. 

This  spectacle  caused  the  Prince  to  step  out  of 
the  room  with  alacrity,  and  quickly  shutting  the 
door  behind  him,  he  walked  rapidly  along  the 
gloomy  passage.  On  his  way  he  met  numerous 
demons  and  evil  spirits  of  various  kinds,  but  they 
only  scowled  at  him  as  he  passed,  and  he  spoke  to 
none  of  them.  He  soon  descended  a  stone  stair 
way  which  led  down  to  a  large  circular  hall,  with 
various  doors  and  passages  leading  from  it.  On 
the  side  opposite  to  the  stairs  was  a  great  door  of 
green  marble,  sculptured  with  mysterious  devices. 
Stepping  up  to  it,  and  finding  that  it  opened  eas 
ily,  he  entered  an  octagonal  room,  the  walls  of 
which  were  hung  with  the  skins  of  spotted  cats, 
and  on  the  floor  was  spread  a  skin  of  the  sacred 
white  elephant  of  India.  The  Prince  perceived 
that  this  was  merely  an  anteroom,  for  to  the  left 
of  him  was  a  door,  before  which  sat  a  fierce  and 


THE   MAGICAL   MUSIC.  115 

black  Afrite,  with  a  great  javelin  in  his  baud. 
With  his  hands  upon  his  knees,  the  Afrite  bent 
down  his  head,  and  looked  steadfastly  at  the  Prince 
with  glaring  eyes. 

Advancing'  towards  this  formidable  sentinel,  the 
Prince  inquired  of  him  where  he  should  find  tbe 
Princess,  if  she  were  shut  up  here,  or  where  he 
could  see  the  sorceress  Mahbracca.  The  Afrite 
arose,  and,  pushing  aside  the  block  of  porphyry  on 
which  he  had  been  sitting,  took  down  a  brazen  bar 
by  which  the  door  was  fastened,  and  throwing  it 
open,  told  the  Prince,  in  a  harsh  and  brazen  voice, 
to  enter. 

The  room  in  which  the  Prince  now  found  him 
self,  was  the  private  apartment  of  the  sorceress, 
where  had  been  concocted  all  the  wickedness  with 
which  she  had  cursed  the  subjects  of  her  son. 

At  first,  the  Prince  could  scarcely  distinguish 
the  objects  in  the  room,  as  it  was  lighted  only  by 
a  small  brazier  which  burnt  dimly  on  a  table  ;  but 
the  Afrite  thrust  his  javelin  into  the  brazier,  and 
the  flames,  all  green  and  red,  burst  forth  luridly, 
lighting  up  the  apartment  with  unearthly  colors. 
The  Afrite,  after  informing  the  Prince  that  the 
great  Mahbracca  would  soon  attend  him,  left  him, 
ind  returned  to  his  station  on  the  other  side  of 


116  TING-A-LING. 

the  door.  Somewhat  fearful  that  all  this  willing 
ness  to  admit  him  boded  no  good,  the  Prince  still 
determined  to  push  boldly  on  in  his  adventure 
(that  being,  indeed,  the  only  course  possible  for 
him),  and  to  take  things  as  coolly  as  possible. 

Looking  around  him,  he  saw,  by  the  bright  light 
which  now  filled  the  room,  that  against  each  of 
the  walls  was  a  row  of  cages,  containing  snakes 
of  various  grades  of  venom,  placed  in  order,  ac 
cording  to  their  deadly  properties.  Standing  on 
their  heads,  in  various  places  against  the  wall, 
were  many  of  those  dreadful  green  lizards  which 
poison  the  air  of  the  deep  valleys  of  Sumatra,  and 
whose  bite  causes  their  victim,  together  with  all 
his  blood  relations,  to  gangrene  in  an  instant. 
These,  although  standing  so  stiffly  against  the 
wall,  were  all  alive,  and  some  of  them,  perceiving 
the  Prince  was  looking  at  them,  winked  at  him. 
But  he  paid  them  no  further  attention,  and  pro 
ceeded  with  his  inspection  of  the  room. 

There  were  great  numbers  of  horrid-looking 
furnaces,  and  cages,  and  grotesque  lamps,  with  the 
flames  out,  but  with  wicks  still  smouldering,  and 
smelling  vilely.  Upon  a  shelf  near  the  ceiling  was 
a  row  of  great  jars,  and  out  of  one  of  them  was 
continually  popping  the  head  of  an  excessively 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  117 

shining  and  black  little  demon,  who  had  evidently, 
for  some  offense,  been  put  there  in  pickle.  From 
the  other  jars  came  groans,  but  no  heads.  These 
had  been  in  longer.  While  the  Prince  stood, 
scarcely  able  to  refrain  from  laughing  at  the  com 
ical  countenance  of  the  young  demon  in  the  jar, 
he  heard  the  opening  of  a  door,  and,  turning,  saw 
the  sorceress  Mahbracca  enter  the  apartment. 
This  worthy  dame  presented  a  remarkable  appear 
ance.  Short,  with  a  large  head  partly  covered  with 
stubbly  white  hair,  she  had  a  face  of  the  color  and 
smoothness  of  an  Irish  potato,  which  has  been 
lying  in  the  sun  for  about  eighteen  months.  Her 
eyes  opened  in  the  middle  of  the  pupil,  with  a  slit, 
like  those  of  a  cat,  and  she  had  three  long  hairs, 
or  whiskers,  on  each  side  of  her  upper  lip.  She 
advanced  with  a  smile,  which  did  not  make  her 
look  any  more  lovely,  and  extended  her  hand  to 
the  Prince.  Being  a  man  of  politeness,  of  course 
he  took  it,  but  her  touch  was  ten  times  more 
clammy  and  deadly  than  that  of  a  snake. 

"I  am  glad  to  see  you,"  said  Mahbracca. 
"Will  you  take  some  rest  and  refreshment?  You 
must  be  tired,  for  you  have  surely  travelled  a  long 
way." 

"  No,"  said  the  Prince,  "  I  desire  neither  rest 


118  TING-A-LING. 

nor  refreshment.  "  All  I  require  is,  that  you 
conduct  me  to  the  Princess,  if  you  have  her  here 
confined,  and  then  that  you  deliver  her  up  to 
me." 

"  Ah  !  "  said  the  sorceress,  "  that  is  certainly 
not  much  to  ask.  You  shall  he  gratified.  Allow 
me  to  conduct  you  to  her ;  she  will  be  delighted, 
I  am  sure." 

Then  taking  in  her  hand  a  staff,  and  opening 
the  door  by  which  she  had  entered,  she  requested 
the  Prince  to  follow  her.  Passing  quickly  through 
several  apartments,  they  entered  a  wide,  long,  and 
dim  avenue. 

"  Come,"  said  the  sorceress,  "  give  me  your 
hand ;  we  will  lose  no  time." 

But  the  Prince,  remembering  his  former  expe 
rience  of  her  touch,  drew  back  from  the  bony  hand 
which  she  extended  to  him. 

"Ah!"  cried  she,  with  a  hideous  grin,  "you 
are  able  to  get  along  by  yourself,  are  you,  my 
dear  ?  I  dare  say  your  young  legs  are  very  strong 
and  nimble.  You  don't  need  any  old  woman's 
help.  Ha,  ha !  Well,  come  on  !  The  Princess 
awaits  you !  " 

With  these  remarks,  the  aged  hag  set  off  at 
a  pace,  which,  considering  her  years,  was  truly 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  121 

wonderful,  putting  the  Prince  to  his  best  endeav 
ors  to  keep  up  with  her.  The  underground  av 
enue  in  which  they  ran  seemed  of  great  length ; 
and  very  shortly  the  old  lady  varied  the  exercise 
by  introducing  certain  gymnastics.  Sometimes, 
as  she  stretched  out  her  staff,  the  ground  would 
suddenly  open  before  her,  and  she  sprang  over 
the  wide  chasm  with  the  greatest  ease ;  while  the 
poor  Prince,  all  unprepared,  would  have  to  strain 
every  muscle  in  his  body  to  clear,  in  the  midst 
of  his  rapid  career,  the  yawning  gulf.  Then  she 
would  wave  her  staff  upwards,  and  the  ground  rise 
in  front  of  her,  like  a  steep  and  rocky  hill,  up 
which  she  would  lightly  run,  while  the  Prince 
could  scarcely  restrain  himself  from  dashing  vio 
lently  against  its  stony  face.  Then,  while  heated 
and  breathless  with  the  ascent  of  one  of  these,  he 
would  see  her  wave  her  staff  downward,  and 
plunge  down  a  steep  declivity,  into  the  darkness 
of  which  he  followed  her  pell-mell,  not  knowing 
whether  he  was  going  to  descend  a  few  yards  or 
a  mile.  Very  soon,  however,  he  began  to  get 
his  blood  up,  and,  kicking  out  his  legs  like  a  wild 
goat  of  Cashmere,  he  prepared  to  show  her  that 
it  would  have  to  be  a  very  smart  old  woman  who 
could  beat  him  in  a  race.  So  away  they  went, 


122  TING-A-LING. 

like  a  cat  and  a  dog,  the  Prince  clearing-  the  great 
gaps  as  last  as  Mahbracca  could  make  them.  At 
last  he  actually  gained  pn  her,  and  kept  ahead 
of  her  for  a  few  minutes,  during  which  time  he 
had  level  running.  But  with  a  great  effort,  she 
passed  him,  and,  violently  throwing  up  the  end 
of  her  staff,  caused  a  great  rock  to  rise  with  such 
promptness,  that  the  Prince  came  within  an  inch 
of  braining  himself  against  it.  But  over  it  they 
went,  and  for  half  a  mile  kept  neck  and  neck ; 
but  the  old  woman  soon  put  an  end  to  this,  for, 
whirling  her  staff  round  her  head,  the  Prince 
instantly  found  himself  wading  in  sand  up  to  his 
armpits. 

"  That's  mean  !  "  he  cried,  with  tears  of  indig 
nation  in  his  eyes.  But  Mahbracca  jumped  up 
and  down  on  top  of  the  sand,  waving  her  arms, 
and  laughing  and  screaming  like  a  hyena. 

"  Ah  ha  !  my  vigorous  Prince,"  cried  she,  "  why 
do  you  stop?  Hasten,  hasten  !  Swiftest  of  youths, 
the  Princess  awaits  us  ! " 

Incensed  by  her  mockery,  he  gave  a  mighty 
plunge  into  the  sand  before  him,  and  surged 
along  like  a  ship  in  the  ocean,  while  Mahbracca 
skipped  gayly  by  him,  playfully  kicking  the  sand 
into  his  eyes. 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  123 

"  You  see  the  advantage  of  lightness,  my  dear," 
cried  she.  "  I  pass  easily  over  the  top  of  this 
sand,  while  you  —  O,  how  you  do  wallow  !  Ha, 
ha,  ha!  I  never  saw  anything  like  it." 

With  such  remarks,  she  beguiled  his  way,  until 
relenting,  she  at  last  waved  her  staff  again  above 
her  head,  and  the  Prince  found  himself  by  her 
side,  on  solid  ground. 

She  complimented  him  on  his  remarkable  agil 
ity  and  strength,  but  he  made  her  no  answer, 
and,  wiping  his  face  with  his  handkerchief,  walked 
on  without  a  word.  At  length  they  reached  the 
end  of  the  avenue,  and,  passing  through  a  circular 
aperture  with  which  it  terminated,  the  Prince 
found  himself  in  the  cavity  of  an  immense  hollow 
mountain,  the  floor  of  which  was  a  great  plain, 
and  into  which  the  light  of  day  was  admitted 
through  an  opening  in  the  top,  more  than  two 
miles  above  him. 

Scattered  about  over  the  blackish  sward  were 
many  groups  of  ghouls  and  variously  colored  de 
mons,  some  playing  pitch-penny  with  ancient  coins, 
and  others  lying  asleep  on  the  ground.  At  a  dis 
tance,  grazing  on  the  exuberant  and  oily  foliage, 
were  herds  of  the  prong-horned  Yabouks,  —  those 
sanguinary  monsters  which  impale  their  victims  on 


124  TING-A-LING. 

the  great  horn  upon  their  noses,  holding  hack 
their  heads  and  opening  their  mouths  to  let  the 
blood  slowly  trickle  down  their  throats. 

Many  other  dreadful  cattle  were  scattered  about 
the  plain,  drinking  at  the  greenish  streams  which 
meandered  about  in  various  directions,  or  stand 
ing  ruminating,  knee-deep  in  the  oily  water.  But 
these  things  claimed  not  the  attention  of  the 
Prince. 

In  the  centre  of  this  great  plain  stood  a  tower. 

"  Behold  !  "  cried  Mahbracca,  springing  in  front 
of  him,  and  waving  her  arms  —  "  behold  the  dwell 
ing  of  your  Princess  !  Come  !  let  us  run,  let  us 
bound  !  " 

Seizing  him  by  the  hand  with  a  strength  that 
was  not  to  be  resisted,  she  led  him,  at  great  speed, 
to  the  foot  of  the  tower.  Then  at  the  top  of  her 
voice  she  called  out,  — 

"  Princess !  appear  at  your  window  quickly  ! 
Your  love  has  come  from  afar  unto  you.  Show 
yourself  to  him  !  " 

At  these  words,  the  Princess  put  her  head  out 
of  the  highest  window,  and  when  the  Prince  saw 
her  lovely  face,  he  fell  down  on  his  knees,  trem 
bling  with  happiness,  and  protesting  in  broken 
sentences  his  love  for  her;  while  she,  bending 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  125 

out  over  the  window-sill,  wept  silently  tears  of  joy, 
which  came  down  pitter,  patter,  on  the  Prince's 
head. 

Starting  presently  to  his  feet,  the  Prince  ran 
around  the  tower  to  find  the  front  door,  and,  see 
ing1  it,  he  endeavored  to  push  it  open,  hut  it  was 
securely  fastened.  He  then  turned  to  look  for 
Mahbracca,  and  perceived  her  standing  at  some 
distance,  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  ghouls  and 
demons,  who  seemed  to  be  greatly  enjoying  the 
scene.  The  Prince  shouted  loudiy  to  her  to  send 
him  the  keys,  at  which  the  whole  crowd  set  up  a 
shout  of  laughter,  and  Mahbracca  hysterically 
screamed  to  him,  — 

"  Enter !  Enter,  great  Prince  !  Why  wait  so 
long  outside?  You  grieve  your  lovely  Princess  !  " 

The  Prince,  enraged,  drew  his  sword  of  adamant, 
and  at  one  blow  thrust  it  through  the  lock,  but 
the  door  did  not  open,  and  the  sword  was  fixed  im 
movably.  In  vain  did  he  tug  and  struggle  at  it. 
He  could  not  move  it  an  inch.  Hearing  greater 
and  wilder  cries  of  derision,  he  turned  towards  the 
crowd  and  shook  his  fist  at  them,  and  then  went 
back  under  the  window  of  the  Princess,  but  she 
was  not  visible.  He  called  her  again  and  again, 
at  the  top  of  his  voice,  but  she  did  not  answer 


126  TING-A-LING. 

him  uor  make  her  appearance.  The  night  was  fast 
coming  on,  and  overcome  with  sorrow  and  despair, 
and  weak  with  hunger,  the  Prince  fell  upon  the 
ground. 

When  he  had  lain  thus  for  an  hour  or  two,  hear 
ing  nothing  of  the  Princess  or  his  enemies,  he  be- 
gan  to  reflect  that  if  he  intended  to  serve  his  lady 
love,  he  must  do  something,  and  that  speedily. 
He  himself,  he  plainly  saw,  had  no  power  against 
this  sorceress,  and  perhaps  even  now  she  was 
within  the  tower,  preventing  the  Princess  from 
answering  or  appearing  to  him.  He  would  go  for 
assistance,  and,  come  what  would,  the  Princess 
should  be  delivered  from  that  horrid  tower.  He 
therefore  arose,  and,  without  reflecting  how  he  was 
to  leave  this  abode  of  wickedness,  he  prepared  to 
return  to  his  friend  and  adviser  Trumkard.  When 
he  reached  the  aperture  by  which  he  had  entered 
the  hollow  mountain  (which  he  did  without  meet 
ing  any  one),  he  found  it  closed  by  a  gate  of  brass. 
But  he  was  not  to  be  thus  deterred.  He  ran 
around  the  sides  of  the  mountain,  rousing  in  his 
course  several  herds  of  Yabouks  and  dreadful  cat 
tle  that  gazed,  half  awake,  at  his  rapid  movements, 
and  examined,  as  well  as  he  could  by  the  dim 
light,  the  wall  of  this  great  cavern.  He  soon  be- 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  127 

came  convinced,  by  the  knowledge  he  had  gained 
in  a  few  visits  to  his  step-mother's  dominions,  that 
these  walls  were  not  very  thick.  His  resolution 
was  quickly  formed.  Taking  off  his  handsome 
and  richly  embroidered  clothes,  which  would  only 
impede  him  in  his  labors,  he  stood  dressed  only  in 
his  under- vest  and  trousers.  Then,  springing  up 
on  a  projecting  rock  and  over  another,  he  entered 
a  great  crack,  pushed  through  some  loose  earth, 
and  made  his  way  through  the  various  crevices  of 
the  ground,  as  he  had  seen  the  gnomes  do.  After 
about  an  hour's  work,  he  emerged  into  the  open 
air  very  tired  and  very  dirty.  After  resting  awhile, 
he  arose,  and,  taking  his  way  across  a  great  plain, 
found  himself  by  daybreak,  worn  out  and  footsore, 
near  the  gates  of  a  great  city.  Entering,  he  in 
quired  of  one  of  the  few  people  who  were  up  so 
early,  what  city  this  was,  and  was  informed  that 
it  was  the  city  of  the  Queen  Altabec,  and  a  long 
distance  from  the  city  of  the  mighty  King. 

The  Prince  thanked  his  informant,  and  proceeded 
to  look  for  a  tailor's  shop,  where  he  might  provide 
himself  with  clothes ;  for  he  perceived  that  people 
eyed  him  with  suspicion,  and  well  they  might. 
Having  found  a  shop,  he  entered,  and  desired  to  be 
immediately  fitted  with  a  prince's  suit.  The  mas- 


128  TENG-A-LIXG. 

ter  tailor,  knowing  by  his  proud  air  that  he  was  a 
Prince,  and  supposing  he  had  been  on  some  youth 
ful  adventure,  and  had  thus  lost  his  clothes,  was 
delighted  to  serve  him,  and,  running  to  the  shelves 
and  drawers,  pulled  out  all  the  princes'  suits,  and 
spread  them  before  his  customer.  The  Prince 
selected  some  very  handsome  clothes,  and,  having 
washed  himself,  put  them  on,  and  found  they  fitted 
him  exactly.  He  declared  his  satisfaction  with 
them,  and  putting  his  hand  in  his  pocket  for  his 
purse,  found  nothing  of  the  kind  there,  the  tailor 
not  furnishing  his  clothes  in  that  way.  He  now 
remembered  that  all  his  money  was  in  the  clothes 
he  had  left  behind  him  in  the  mountain,  and  ex 
plained  his  condition  to  the  tailor.  The  latter, 
however,  had  no  wish  to  deal  with  princes  who 
had  no  money,  and  ordered  him  to  instantly  take 
off  the  suit.  The  Prince,  who  was  strictly  honest, 
was  about  obeying*,  when  one  of  his  feet  (which 
were  very  tender  with  his  much  walking)  giving 
him  a  sudden  pain,  he  stooped  down  to  see  what 
was  in  his  shoe,  and  taking  it  off,  out  rolled  a  mag 
nificent  pearl  and  two  sapphires. 

"  There,"  said  the  Prince,  picking  them  up,  and 
handing  them  to  the  tailor,  "if  these  will  be 
of  any  use  to  you,  you  can  have  them  for  th<» 
clothes." 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC,  129 

The  tailor,  filled  with  admiration  at  the  sight  of 
these  jewels,  and  with  the  most  profound  respect 
for  a  prince  who  carried  such  wealth  in  his  shoes, 
accepted  them  instantly,  and  the  Prince  left  the 
shop.  But  the  good  tailor,  gazing  joyfully  at  his 
new-found  treasures,  was  so  conscientious  and 
grateful,  that  he  ran  out  after  the  Prince,  and  gave 
him  back  one  of  the  sapphires  as  change. 

It  may  as  well  be  here  related  that  the  tailor 
sold  the  pearl  to  a  jeweler,  who  gave  him  one  third 
of  its  value,  with  which  he  retired  into  the  coun 
try,  bought  great  possessions,  and  lived  in  much 
dignity  for  many  years.  Some  time  afterward,  the 
Queen  Altabec  happening  to  pass  the  jeweler's 
shop,  and  seeing  the  pearl  in  the  window,  imme 
diately  ordered  the  execution  of  the  jeweler  and 
the  seizure  of  the  pearl,  which  she  placed  above  all 
the  other  jewels  in  the  tip-top  of  her  crown,  where 
it  still  remains.  As  for  the  sapphire,  the  tailor's  wife 
put  that  away  for  a  rainy  day  ;  but  as  the  rainy  day 
never  came,  and  she  never  went  to  look  for  it  in  its 
hiding-place,  it  made  no  earthly  difference  to  her 
that  her  youngest  child  had  found  it,  and  had 
swapped  it  off  for  half  of  a  little  stale  apple-pie. 

After  leaving  the  tailor's  shop,  the  Prince  made 
all  haste  to  an  inn,  where,  having  eaten  about  foui 

9 


130  TING-A-LING. 

meals  in  one,  he  bought  from  an  Arab,  who  was 
highly  recommended  to  him,  a  swift  dromedary  of 
the  desert,  for  which  he  gave  one  sapphire,  and  re 
quested  the  landlord  of  the  khan  to  see  that  the 
Arab  paid  to  him,  out  of  its  value,  what  would  suf 
fice  for  the  price  of  his  breakfast.  This  the  land 
lord  promised  faithfully  to  do,  and  it  is  said  that 
the  descendants  of  that  landlord  are  still  drawing 
on  the  descendants  of  that  Arab  for  installments 
of  the  price  of  that  wonderful  breakfast. 

Mounting  his  dromedary,  the  Prince  would  have 
started,  but  was  detained  by  the  Arab,  who  em 
braced  the  animal,  and  begged  the  Prince,  out  of 
charity  to  a  poor  man,  to  add  a  little  to  the  meagre 
price  he  had  paid  for  it.  Upon  which  the  Prince, 
knowing  the  habits  of  these  Arabs,  drew  his  sword, 
which  he  had  got  with  his  suit,  and  threatened  to 
split  the  affectionate  man  in  halves,  if  he  did  not  im 
mediately  take  his  hands  off  the  beast,  which 
the  man  instantly  did.  When  he  started  off,  the 
humpbacked  courser  might  have  gone  much  faster 
if  he  had  felt  inclined,  and  at  last  the  Prince  be 
came  so  enraged  at  the  exceedingly  leisurely  style 
of  his  trot,  that  he  lifted  his  sword  to  serve  the 
animal  as  he  had  threatened  to  serve  his  old  mas 
ter ;  but  the  intelligent  dromedary,  casting  back  its 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  131 

only  eye,  perceived  the  danger,  and  set  off  at  such 
a  terrific  speed,  that  the  people  in  the  villages 
through  which  it  passed  knew  not  what  it  was 
that  had  trodden  down  their  children,  and  upset 
the  old  women  at  their  pomegranate  stalls. 

Before  night,  the  Prince  pulled  up  in  the  great 
city  before  the  door  of  the  inn  in  which  Trumkard 
and  himself  had  lodged.  Trumkard  was  sitting 
on  the  front  step,  with  a  melon  on  his  lap  and  a 
skin  bottle  between  his  knees.  Hastily  dismount 
ing,  the  Prince  threw  hilnself  upon  the  neck  of 
his  old  friend  with  such  force  that  he  upset  the 
old  gentleman  and  his  supper  into  a  great  pile  to 
gether.  Jumping  up,  and  wiping  the  wine  out  of 
his  eyes  and  the  melon-juice  out  of  his  hair,  Trum 
kard  welcomed  his  young  master,  and  assured  him 
that  he  had  several  times  wondered  where  he  was. 
The  Prince  then  led  him  iu-doors,  and  related  his 
adventures,  and  besought  his  advice. 

Thereupon,  Trumkard,  throwing  his  right  leg 
over  his  left,  rested  his  elbow  on  his  knee,  and, 
reposing  his  chin  in  his  hand,  cogitated.  At  last 
he  spoke. 

"We  cannot  do  better,"  said  he,  "than  to  ap 
ply  to  the  Giant  Tur-il-i-ra." 


132  TING-A-LING. 

This  Giant,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  our  old 
acquaintance,  and  the  friend  of  Ting-a-ling. 

The  Prince  having  readily  consented  to  this 
proposition,  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  go  to 
the  Giant  the  next  day,  and  implore  his  assistance. 
The  Prince  would  have  started  that  night,  but 
Trumkard  had  great  objections  to  night  travelling, 
and  he,  being  the  best  at  an  argument,  gained  his 
point. 

Early  the  next  morning,  the  travellers  set  forth 
upon  their  journey,  well  mounted  upon  two  good 
horses.  (It  may  be  as  well  to  state  that  during 
the  night,  the  Prince's  dromedary  had  returned  to 
its  original  owner.) 

As  it  will  take  two  days  of  hard  riding  for  our 
friends  to  reach  their  destination,  we  will  leave 
them,  and  return  for  a  time  to  the  gentle  Mah- 
bracca,  who,  when  she  had  left  the  Prince,  had 
gone  to  her  private  room  to  prepare  an  ingenious 
wire  arrangement,  which  she  called  a  "prince- 
trap,"  in  which  he  was  to  be  inclosed  and  hung  up 
before  the  window  of  the  Princess,  for  the  amuse 
ment  of  this  lively  sorceress. 

But  what  was  her  dismay  when,  on  returning  to 
the  tower,  the  first  Yabouk  she  met  told  her  of 
the  escape  of  the  Prince  !  Speechless  with  ap- 


THE   MAGICAL  MUSIC.  133 

« 

prehension,  she  ran  to  the  place  where  he  had 
passed  through  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and  see 
ing1  his  clothes  upon  the  ground  and  the  indubita 
ble  signs  of  his  egress,  she  became  perfectly  furi 
ous,  and,  rushing  back  to  the  tower,  commanded 
the  dreadful  Afrite  who  guarded  her  door,  and  who 
now  accompanied  her,  to  enter  and  to  bring  down 
the  Princess,  but  on  no  account  to  injure  her  until 
she  should  be  placed  alive  in  the  cage  that  had 
been  prepared  for  the  Prince.  The  faithful  Afrite 
bowed  his  head  in  obedience,  and  having  at  one 
bound  entered  one  of  the  lower  windows,  he  hur 
ried  up  the  stairs  to  the  door  of  the  Princess's 
room.  Bursting  it  open,  he  saw  the  Princess 
lying  on  the  floor  in  a  swoon  (into  which  she  had 
fallen  when  she  perceived  that  Mahbracca  was  act 
ing  treacherously  towards  the  Prince),  and,  sup 
posing  her  to  be  dead,  he  hastily  plunged  down 
the  stairs  to  inform  his  mistress,  and  rushing  vio 
lently  against  the  front  door  to  burst  it  open  (as 
was  his  habit  when  doors  were  in  his  way),  he  im 
mediately  spitted  himself  upon  the  Prince's  sword 
of  adamant,  which  was  sticking  through  the  lock. 
After  waiting  some  time,  and  becoming  alarmed 
at  the  long  absence  of  the  Afrite,  the  sorceress  sent 
for  the  key  of  the  tower,  and  opened  the  door.  But 


134  TING-A-LING. 

when  it  slowly  swung  open,  and  the  body  of  her 
favorite  swung  with  it,  —  the  point  of  the  sword 
emerging  from  the  middle  of  his  back,  —  she 
fainted  away.  Coming  to  her  senses  in  a  few  min 
utes,  she  ordered  him  to  be  drawn  off  and  carried 
to  her  room,  where,  after  again  locking  the  tower 
door,  she  followed,  in  the  hopes  of  reviving,  by 
means  of  proper  magical  remedies,  whatever  vital 
ity  might  be  left  in  the  unfortunate  and  indispen 
sable  Afrite. 

Trumkard  and  the  Prince  journeyed  so  rapidly 
that  their  horses  fell,  utterly  exhausted,  at  the 
end  of  the  first  day's  journey ;  and,  not  being  able 
to  procure  others,  they  were  obliged  to  go  the 
rest  of  the  way  on  foot.  You  may  be  sure  that 
the  Prince  did  not  lag  by  the  way,  and  poor 
Trumkard  was  obliged  to  do  his  very  best  to  keep 
up  with  him  at  all.  Therefore,  when,  near  the  end 
of  the  second  day,  they  arrived  at  the  Giant's  cas 
tle,  they  were  tired  and  warm  enough.  Entering 
the  great  gate  (to  the  hinge  of  which  little  Ting-* 
a-ling  once  tied  his  butterfly),  they  approached  the 
castle,  and  perceived  the  Giant  sitting  in  his  front 
porch,  with  his  feet  in  immense  slippers,  comfort 
ably  resting  against  one  of  the  great  pillars  before 
the  door.  The  Prince,  who  had  never  seen  him 


THE   MAGICAL  MUSIC.  135 

before,  was  struck  with  astonishment  at  his  great 
size ;  but  Trumkard  assured  him  that  a  nobler  or 
more  true-hearted  being  never  breathed,  for  all 
he  was  so  big. 

When  Tur-il-i-ra  perceived  them,  he  arose  and 
welcomed  them  heartily,  remembering  Trumkard 
as  an  old  friend.  He  caused  them  to  be  seated 
on  the  porch,  and  ordered  water  to  he  brought 
that  they  might  free  themselves  from  the  dust  of 
the  journey.  Then  he  called  to  his  attendants  to 
spread  a  table,  and  to  bring  some  cold  meat  and 
some  game,  some  curries  and  hashes,  some  minced 
meat,  some  pepper-pot,  some  mutton-chops,  ome 
lettes,  bacon  and  eggs ;  some  broiled  steaks,  some 
spare-ribs,  toast,  butter,  cheese,  pickles,  and  salad ; 
some  macaroni,  vermicelli,  chowder,  mullagatawny, 
lobsters,  clams,  oysters,  mussels,  and  shrimps  ;  also 
some  tripe,  kidneys,  liver,  and  sausages,  and  calves'- 
foot-jelly,  and  stewed  cranberries  ;  also  frangipanni 
tarts  and  a  Charlotte-Russe,  with  bottles  of  or 
geat,  sherbet,  and  iced  wines,  together  with  mead 
and  mineral  water. 

When  his  guests  had  partaken  of  these,  their 
hunger  was  fully  satisfied,  and  they  related  to  him 
the  reason  of  their  coming.  When  the  Giant 
learned  how  the  Princess  was  kept  from  her  lover, 


136  TING-A-LING. 

and  in  all  probability  from  a  throne,  by  this 
wicked  sorceress,  his  anger  knew  no  bounds. 

"  I  knew  the  woman  well !  "  he  cried,  "  but  I 
thought  her  dead.  Many  is  the  deed  of  vile 
magic  which  I  have  known  her  to  do,  but  now  — 
well,  my  friends,  you  shall  be  avenged.  I  will 
take  up  the  cause  of  the  Princess,  and  we  will 
set  out  for  the  hollow  mountain  as  soon  as  I  can 
get  myself  ready  to  start." 

Leaving  the  two  friends  in  comfortable  chairs 
on  the  porch,  in  which  they  fell  asleep  as  soon 
as  he  had  left  them,  the  Giant  ascended  the  great 
stone  stairs  into  his  armory,  which  was  an  im 
mense  room,  filled  with  his  mighty  weapons,  and 
armor  and  all  sorts  of  implements  of  warfare. 
Kicking  off  his  slippers,  he  put  upon  his  feet 
great  boots,  the  like  of  which  were  never  seen 
before.  Their  soles  were  enormously  thick,  and 
studded  with  nails,  each  one  of  which  was  so 
heavy  that  I  would  not  like  to  have  to  carry  it 
very  far.  Then,  having  put  on  his  chain  armor 
and  his  great  gauntlets,  and  having  arrayed  him 
self  otherwise  according  to  his  taste,  he  put  upon 
his  head  his  helmet,  which  was  like  a  great  iron 
pot,  and  big  enough  to  —  well,  big  enough  to 
cover  his  head,  which  is  saying  a  great  deal.  He 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  137 

then  took,  from  the  corner  of  the  room,  his  club, 
which  was  the  trunk  of  a  tall  tree,  with  one  end 
fastened  into  a  great  rock,  by  way  of  having  a 
knob  to  it.  Having  thus  accoutred  himself,  he 
came  down-stairs,  and,  finding  his  guests  in  such 
a  sound  slumber,  he  had  not  the  heart  to  waken 
them  ;  so  he  gently  took  them  up,  and  put  one  of 
them  in  each  of  the  side-pockets  of  the  coat  which 
he  wore  over  his  armor.  Then,  having  given 
orders  to  his  servants  to  close  all  the  gates,  and 
see  that  the  house  was  well  fastened  up  for  fear  of 
thieves,  he  strode  out  of  the  great  gate,  and  pro 
ceeded  towards  the  hollow  mountain.  Although 
this  was  a  long  journey  for  a  man  or  a  horse,  our 
Giant  made  such  tremendous  strides  that  it  did 
not  seem  like  a  very  great  distance  to  him ;  and 
when  Trumkard  and  the  Prince  awoke,  and  stood 
up,  and  looked  in  astonishment  out  of  the  pocket- 
holes,  they  saw  the  mountain  in  the  distance. 
The  Giant,  perceiving  that  they  were  awake, 
looked  from  one  to  the  other  with  his  peculiar 
pleasant  smile,  and  assured  them  that  their 
troubles  would  soon  be  at  an  end. 

"I  hardly  think,"  said  he,  "that  the  old 
woman  can  keep  me  out  of  her  tower ; "  and  he 
iaughed  at  the  very  idea  of  such  a  thing.  The 


138  TING-A-LING. 

Prince  made  no  reply,  but  he  thought  that  if 
the  Giant  did  get  into  the  tower,  it  would  be 
considerably  stretched. 

Having  arrived  at  the  mountain,  the  Giant 
walked  around  it  until  he  came  to  the  place 
where,  the  Prince  informed  him,  he  had  made 
his  escape,  and  which  was,  as  far  as  there  was 
an  opportunity  of  judging,  one  of  the  thinnest 
parts.  Tur-il-i-ra  took  his  friends  out  of  his 
pockets,  and  set  thein  on  the  ground  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  foot  of  the  mountain ;  and  then 
letting  his  club  down  from  his  slioulder,  he 
whirled  it  around  his  head,  and  struck  such  a 
tremendous  blow  on  the  side  of  the  mountain, 
with  the  rock  end,  that  everything  cracked  again. 
Then  another  on  the  same  place,  and  another, 
and  another,  until,  at  the  last  blow,  a  great  mass 
of  rock  and  earth  fell  inside  with  a  crash  like 
thunder,  leaving  a  gap  large  enough  for  the  whole 
party  to  walk  in  without  stooping.  You  may  be 
sure  that  the  three  were  not  long  in  entering ; 
but  no  sooner  had  they  set  foot  upon  the  great 
interior  plain,  than  they  perceived  a  mighty  com 
motion  among  the  inhabitants  of  this  secluded 
spot.  Ghouls,  afrites,  and  all  sorts  of  demons 
were  running  towards  them  in  a  great  state  of 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  139 

excitement;  and  as  they  approached,  they  formed 
into  a  solid  body,  evidently  intending  to  repel  the 
invaders.  There  was  no  mistaking  their  inten 
tions  ;  for  they  hurled  at  the  Giant  a  volley  of 
spears  and  javelins  that  would  have  annihilated 
any  one  who  was  not  so  large,  and  who  had  not 
on  such  strong  and  secure  chain-armor. 

As  to  our  two  smaller  friends,  they  were  safe 
enough  behind  the  Giant's  legs.  Giving  his  club 
a  swing,  Tur-il-i-ra  stepped  forward,  aud  let  it 
drive  right  into  the  middle  of  the  crowd,  crushing 
some  sixty  of  them,  and  sending  the  rest  howling 
in  every  direction. 

Being  thus  rid,  for  a  time,  of  these  opposers, 
the  Giant  picked  up  his  club,  and,  followed  by  the 
Prince  and  Trumkard,  advanced  towards  the  tower. 
Although  Tur-il-i-ra  strode  along  at  a  great  rate, 
the  Prince  got  to  the  tower  first,  and  immediately 
commenced  shouting  to  his  Princess.  She,  how 
ever,  did  not  make  her  appearance,  for  ahe  was 
still  in  a  swoon.  So  the  Prince  ran  around  to 
the  door  to  see  if,  by  chance,  it  was  open,  but 
found  it  locked.  He  saw,  however,  the  hilt  of  his 
sword  still  in  the  lock,  and,  seizing  it,  he  again 
used  his  utmost  strength  to  pull  it  out,  but  in 
vain.  The  Giant,  who  had  just  come  up,  perceiv- 


140  TING-A-LING. 

ing  what  he  was  trying  to  do,  stooped  down,  and, 
taking-  hold  of  the  hilt  in  his  finger  and  thumb, 
gave  it  a  jerk,  and  out  it  came.  He  handed  it, 
with  a  smile,  to  the  Prince,  who,  overjoyed  at 
regaining  his  favorite  weapon,  jumped  around  to 
see  if  there  was  anybody  he  could  stick  it  into; 
but  as  all  the  Yabouks  and  other  cattle  were  stand 
ing  at  a  respectful  distance,  and  there  was  only 
old  Trumkard  running  up,  he  thought  better  of 
the  matter,  and  put  his  sword  into  its  scabbard," 
feeling  himself  a  man  again.  The  Giant  walked 
round  the  tower,  putting  his  eye  to  the  windows, 
but  said  he  could  see  nothing. 

"  Look  in  the  upper  window  !  "  shouted  the 
Prince ;  "  that  is  the  Princess's  room." 

"  Yes  !  here  she  is  !  "  cried  the  old  fellow,  peer 
ing  on  tiptoe  into  the  upper  room.  "  And  fast 
asleep  on  the  floor  !  That  wretch  of  a  witch  has 
not  even  given  her  a. bed."  Then,  clapping  his 
great  hands  against  the  side  of  the  tower,  he 
cried,  —  "  Wake  up,  sweet  Princess !  "  in  a  voice 
so  loud  that  the  poor  young  lady  thought  it  was 
thunder,  and  sprang  to  her  feet  trembling  with 
fright.  Seeing  the  face  of  a  strange  Giant  at 
the  window,  she  was  so  much  more  terrified  that 
it  is  probable  she  would  have  fainted  away  again, 
had  she  not  heard  the  Prince's  voice. 


THE   MAGICAL  MUSIC.  143 

""Lift  me  up  !  "  cried  the  Prince,  jumping 
about,  almost  mad  with  impatience.  "  Put  me 
in,  quick,  good  Giant,  if  she  is  there !  "  So  the 
Giant  took  him  up,  and  put  him  right  in  at  the 
window.  When  the  Princess  saw  him,  her  face 
flushed,  and  her  eyes  flashed  with  joy.  Starting1 
hack  and  stamping  one  foot,  she  cried,  — "  My 
Prince ! " 

And  he,  starting  back  and  stamping  one  foot, 
cried,  —  "  My  Princess  !  " 

And  then  they  rushed  into  each  other's  arms, 
and  you  could  have  heard  the  kissing  ever  so  far. 

Old  Trumkard  was  nearly  tickled  to  death,  and 
ran  around  on  his  toes,  trying  insanely  to  reach 
up  ;  but  he  couldn't  see  anything,  —  not  he  !  As 
for  the  Giant,  he  could  see  first-rate,  and  he  stood 
looking  in  at  the  window,  with  such  a  broad  grin 
on  his  face,  that  one  might  almost  have  driven 
a  horse  and  wagon  down  his  throat. 

In  a  short  time  the  Prince  and  Princess  made 
their  appearance  at  the  window,  and  requested 
to  be  taken  down.  When  the  Giant  had  deposited 
them  safely  on  the  ground,  they  embraced  each 
other,  and  then  Trumkard ;  and,  turning  to  Tur-il- 
i-ra,  they  made  him  a  very  pretty  speech,  expres 
sive  of  gratitude  and  eternal  remembrance. 


144  TING- A-L  ING. 

These  little  duties  having  been  performed,  there 
seemed  nothing  more  to  be  done  but  to  quit  the 
mountain  by  the  way  they  came.  But,  as  they 
were  about  leaving  the  tower,  they  were  startled 
by  a  sudden  burst  of  yells  and  howls,  and  saw, 
issuing  from  the  brazen  gate  by  which  the  Prince 
had  first  entered,  a  great  crowd,  which  was  ap 
proaching  them  at  full  speed,  headed  by  Mah- 
bracca,  who  skipped  along  at  an  astonishing  rate. 

Our  friends  did  not  attempt  to  retreat.  Indeed, 
the  enemy  was  upon  them  almost  as  soon  as  they 
perceived  their  danger. 

Mahbracca  stepped  to  one  side,  and  the  crowd, 
opening,  discovered  in  the  midst  forty-seven  spot 
ted  demons,  who  carried  a  great  copper  brazier, 
like  an  enormous  covered  pot,  which  they  quickly 
set  down,  almost  at  the  feet  of  the  Giant. 

"  Off  with  the  lid  ! "  shouted  Mahbracca,  and 
instantly  a  number  of  the  slaves  seized  the  cover 
and  dragged  it  off,  when  a  great,  thick,  poisonous 
smoke  burst  out  of  it,  which  would  have  destroyed 
onr  friends  in  a  few  moments,  had  not  they  invol 
untarily  sprung  back  and  clapped  their  handker 
chiefs  to  their  faces.  However,  they  could  not  have 
lived  more  than  half  a  minute,  had  not  the  Giant, 
with  admirable  presence  of  mind  and  surprising 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  145 

quickness,  given  the  brazier  such  a  tremendous 
kick  with  one  of  his  heavy  boots,  that  he  sent  it 
more  than  a  mile  and  a  half,  into  the  midst  of  a 
distant  herd  of  Yabouks,  which  were  all  instantly 
suffocated  by  the  dense  cloud  of  poisonous  smoke 
which  covered  them,  as  the  brazier  fell,  upside- 
down,  right  over  the  leader  of  the  herd,  who, 
giving  one  great  bellow,  instantly  crisped  up  into 
nothing.  The  Giant  and  his  party  did  not  dare 
to  draw  breath  until  they  had  run  a  considerable 
distance;  but,  notwithstanding  this  precaution, 
the  Princess  presently  sank  down,  very  pale  and 
faint;  for  her  handkerchief,  being  of  the  finest 
cambric,  did  not  prevent  her  from  slightly  smell 
ing  the  horrid  vapor,  although  she  did  not  inhale 
any  of  it.  However,  the  fresher  air,  and  the  vig 
orous  efforts  of  the  Prince,  soon  restored  her. 

Mahbracca,  stupefied  for  a  moment  at  her  utter 
discomfiture,  and  deserted  by  her  followers,  stood 
gazing  blankly  at  the  scene.  What  she  intended 
doing  next,  was  not  long  doubtful ;  for,  taking  a 
magical  wand  from  her  pocket,  she  bade  the  Giant, 
with  a  wave  of  her  wand,  turn  into  a  camelopard. 
As  he  did  not  seem  in  a  hurry  to  obey,  she  com 
manded  him  to  become  a  hippopotamus,  and  then 
an  elephant.  He  positively  declined,  however,  to 
10 


146  TING-A-LING. 

turn  iiito  any  of  these  animals,  owing  to  his  hav 
ing  taken  the  precaution,  before  leaving  his  cas 
tle,  to  drink  a  bottle  of  anti-enchantment  water. 
The  old  sorceress  now  became  so  enraged  that  she 
could  scarcely  speak,  but  stood  stamping  her  feet, 
and  shaking  her  fist  at  the  great  Tur-il-i-ra,  who, 
leaning  on  his  club,  waited  with  a  smile  for  her 
next  attempt  upon  him. 

At  this  moment  the  Prince  perceived,  a  short 
distance  behind  Mahbracca,  a  small,  black,  and 
shining  demon,  whom  he  immediately  recognized 
as  the  little  fellow  he  had  seen  in  pickle.  The 
young  rascal  was  pulling  and  tugging  at  a  great 
wire  machine  that  had  been  dropped  by  the  fol 
lowers  of  Mahbracca  when  they  ran  away.  He 
beckoned  to  the  Prince  to  come  and  help  him  ;  and 
the  latter,  whispering  to  the  Princess  to  keep  be 
hind  the  Giant,  slipped  quietly  around  to  the  rear 
of  the  angry  sorceress,  and  assisted  the  little  fel 
low  to  place  the  wire  affair  (which  was  nothing 
less  than  the  "  prince-trap  "  that  Mahbracca  had 
made)  directly  behind  the  old  hag,  with  the  door 
right  at  her  back.  The  Giant,  perceiving  this 
rapidly  performed  stratagem,  raised  his  club,  and 
made  a  step  forward,  as  if,  with  one  blow,  he  would 
crush  Mahbracca,  who  was  just  beginning  to  find 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  147 

her  tongue.  Startled  by  this  sudden  action,  she 
stepped  back  quickly,  and  stumbled  right  over 
into  the  "  priuce-trap."  For  an  instant  she  lay 
on  her  back,  astounded,  but  quickly  perceiving  her 
predicament,  she  sprang  to  her  feet,  and  with  loud 
yells  tried  her  best  to  get  out.  But  it  was  of  no 
use.  The  trap  was  made  by  the  best  rules  of 
magic,  and  there  was  no  such  a  thing  as  getting 
out,  even  if  one  was  as  small  as  a  mouse.  As  for 
the  little  black  fellow  who  had  been  in  pickle,  he 
laughed  and  danced  until  the  old  woman,  glaring 
at  him  between  the  wires,  ordered  him  to  turn 
into  a  toad.  But,  unfortunately  for  her,  she  had 
dropped  her  magic  wand  outside  of  the  cage,  as 
she  fell  in,  and  the  little  demon,  seeing  this, 
merely  laughed  in  her  face,  and  running  to  the 
wand,  picked  it  up,  and  ordered  her  to  turn  into  a 
jackass,  which  she  immediately  did,  and  began  to 
bray  horribly.  The  little  wretch  was  so  delighted 
with  this  feat,  that  he  turned  about  a  dozen  som 
ersaults,  and  then,  for  the  amusement  of  the  Giant 
and  his  friends,  he  changed  the  old  sorceress  suc 
cessively  into  a  lion,  a  pig,  an  old  hen,  a  turtle,  a 
kangaroo,  a  boa-constrictor,  an  ape,  a  lobster,  a 
cat,  a  crocodile,  and  a  crane.  He  declared  his 
intention  of  going  through  these  exercises  until 


148  TING-A-LING. 

he  had  used  up  the  whole  animal  kingdom,  and 
seemed  delighted  to  think  that  he  could  have  a 
complete  menagerie  iii  one  cage.  In  order  that 
he  might  pursue  his  amusement  without  interrup 
tion,  the  Giant  put  him,  with  the  cage,  on  the  top 
of  the  tower ;  and  when  our  friends  left  the  hollow 
mountain  through  the  gap  the  Giant  had  made, 
the  poor  sorceress  was  being  changed  from  bird  to 
beast,  and  from  beast  to  fish  or  reptile,  as  fast  as 
the  little  demon  was  satisfied  with  her  perform 
ance  in  any  one  character;  and  he  may  be  keeping 
up  this  amusing  pastime  yet,  for  all  I  know. 

When  our  party  emerged  into  the  open  plain,  it 
was  night;  but  as  the  stars  were  quite  bright,  Tur- 
il-i-ra,  carrying  his  smaller  friends,  and  with  his 
good  club  over  his  shoulder,  took  his  way  toward 
his  castle.  They  had  not  travelled  far  before  day 
light  appeared,  and  very  soon  afterward  they  saw 
in  the  distance  what  seemed  to  be  a  mighty  army 
coming  toward  them.  As  it  drew  nearer,  they  per 
ceived  the  glittering  spears  and  the  flags,  and 
heard  the  sounds  of  drum  and  horn.  This  great 
multitude  was  nothing  more  than  two  or  three 
hundred  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city 
of  the  mighty  King,  who  were  marching  upon  the 
stronghold  of  Mahbracca. 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  149 

During  the  Prince's  hurried  visit  to  the  city,  he 
had  freely  told  the  few  persons  with  whom  he 
had  conversed  of  the  place  of  imprisonment  of  the 
Princess ;  and  after  he  had  left,  the  story  spread 
rapidly. 

At  last  the  excitement  became  so  great  that  it 
ended  in  a  grand  revolt.  The  Prime  Minister 
was  seized  and  imprisoned,  and  the  palace  was 
searched ;  and  when  it  was  found  that  the  Princess 
was  indeed  gone,  the  whole  city  put  full  faith  in 
the  Prince's  story,  and  all  who  could  hear  arms,  or 
play  music,  and  could  possibly  leave  home,  formed 
themselves  into  a  great  army,  and  started  off  for 
the  cave  of  Mahbracca.  They  travelled  bravely 
until  they  neared  the  hollow  mountain,  and  hoped 
soon  to  destroy  the  wicked  Mahbracca  if  they 
found  that  she  was  still  alive,  as  the  Prince  had 
reported. 

As  they  approached  the  Giant,  some  of  the  van 
guard  recognized  Trumkard,  and  others  remem 
bered  having  seen  the  Prince  before;  and  then 
when  the  Princess  raised  her  head,  as  the  Giant 
gently  held  her  on  his  arm,  thousands  of  the  near 
est  of  the.  army  set  up  a  great  shout,  —  "The 
Princess  !  the  Princess  !  " 

Then  came  a  rush,  in  which  the  Giant  might 


160  TING-A-LING. 

have  had  even  his  mighty  legs  taken  from  under 
him,  had  he  not,  with  the  presence  of  mind  for 
which  he  was  noted,  mounted,  at  a  bound,  a  toler 
ably  high  rock,  and,  waving  his  hand  for  silence, 
demanded  that  the  people  should  gather  round  and 
listen  to  him.  He  then  made  a  speech  which  met 
with  the  greatest  attention.  He  told  the  people 
everything  that  had  happened  on  this  adventure, 
and,  having  such  a  loud  voice,  they  all  heard  what 
he  had  to  say.  He  related  the  remarkable  fate  of 
Mahbracca,  and  advised  his  hearers  to  forget  their 
wrath  against  her,  as  she  must,  for  the  rest  of  her 
life,  be  harmless,  and  to  conduct  the  Princess  back 
to  the  mighty  city,  and  there  to  establish  her  in 
whatever  rights  she  possessed,  that  is,  if  it  were 
proved  she  had  any  at  all.  He  also  spoke  in 
the  highest  terms  of  the  Prince,  and  recom 
mended  his  old  friend  Trumkard  to  their  kindest 
consideration.  When  he  had  finished,  the  whole 
multitude  applauded  rapturously  for  some  time, 
and  in  the  midst  of  it  all,  he  delivered  up  his 
proteges  to  the  guardianship  of  the  Head-man, 
who  immediately  had  the  Prince  and  Trumkard 
mounted  upon  magnificent  chargers,  and  the 
Princess  was  placed  in  a  palanquin  of  white  silk, 
embroidered  with  diamonds,  which  had  been 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  151 

brought  on  purpose  for  her,  in  case  they  had 
had  the  good  fortune  to  find  her. 

The  Giant  was  then  ahout  to  leave  them ;  hut  as 
the  citizens  would  not  hear  of  this,  and  as  he  was 
a  rare  good  fellow,  and  did  not  object  to  festivities, 
he  was  persuaded  to  go  with  them.  As  they  had 
no  horse  big  enough  for  him,  he  walked. 

The  procession  was  then  formed  for  the  return 
march.  First  of  all  rode  the  Head-man,  with  a 
sword  in  one  hand  and  a  golden  horn  in  the  other. 
Then  marched  the  professors  of  music.  After 
them  came  all  those  of  the  army  who  could  play 
on  the  trumpet ;  then  the  guard  of  honor,  with  the 
Prince  and  Princess ;  then  Trumkard  and  the  Gi 
ant,  and  after  them  the  immense  host  that  could 
carry  their  weapons  in  one  hand,  and  play  upon 
the  drum  with  the  other.  When  they  started,  the 
drums  were  all  beaten,  the  trumpets  all  blown,  the 
horses  neighed,  the  spears  glittered,  the  banners 
flapped  and  fluttered,  and  there  was  never  so  brave 
an  army  in  the  world. 

From  all  the  hills,  and  plains,  and  valleys,  the 
people  came  flocking  to  see  them  as  they  passed. 
The  enthusiasm  was  so  great,  that  when  night 
came  on  again,  enormous  bonfires  were  lighted  on 
ooth  sides  of  their  road,  and  kept  up  with  such 


152  TING-A-LING. 

hearty  good-will,  that  they  travelled  all  night  in  a 
light  as  bright  as  day ;  and  when  the  wood  gave 
out,  the  peasants  tore  down  their  cottages,  and 
threw  them  on  the  flames. 

As  they  proceeded,  the  professors  of  music  com 
posed  marches,  and  when  one  was  finished,  they 
gave  the  manuscript  to  the  Head-man,  who,  com 
manding  silence,  blew  the  tune  on  his  horn,  and 
then  the  whole  army  struck  up  and  played  it 
grandly.  Of  these,  the  "  Giant's  Grand  March  " 
was  the  best.  It  was  what  might  be  called  good, 
loud  music.  If  it  had  thundered,  it  is  not  likely 
that  it  would  have  been  heard  in  the  grand  final 
burst,  when  all  the  drums  and  trumpets  beat  and 
blew  their  very  loudest. 

The  Giant  himself  played  in  this  march ;  for 
some  of  those  who  marched  near  him,  seeing  that 
he  had  no  instrument,  asked  him  if  he  would  not 
like  to  play  upon  something.  To  which  he  re 
plied  that  he  did  not  care  if  he  did.  So  they  got 
for  him  the  largest  bass-drum.  He  was  much 
pleased  at  this,  and  handing  his  club  to  two  hun 
dred  porters,  who  accompanied  the  expedition,  he 
beat  away  upon  his  drum  in  good  style.  This  per 
formance  did  not  last  long,  however;  for  the  first 
time  they  played  the  grand  final  burst,  he  beat  in 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  153 

both  drum-beads  at  the  same  time,  and  of  course 
there  was  no  more  music  from  him.  The  people 
around  him  were  very  glad  of  this ;  for  while  he 
played,  he  became  so  much  excited  that  he  did  not 
see  where  he  was  walking,  and  was  continually 
treading  upon  some  one.  So  they  journeyed  with 
joy  and  gladness  until  they  reached  the  city  of  the 
mighty  King,  and  all  the  people  who  had  been  left 
behind  came  out  to  meet  them.  Bells  were  rung, 
and  all  kinds  of  music  played,  and  the  people 
shouted,  so  that  the  oldest  inhabitant  never  knew 
such  a  noise  and  excitement  before.  They  entered 
the  city,  and  the  procession  halted  at  the  palace. 
Here  the  Princess,  after  embracing  the  Prince, 
was  conducted  to  the  ladies'  apartments,  where 
her  friends  were  so  overjoyed  at  seeing  her  again, 
that  one  would  have  thought  that  they  would  never 
have  got  over  it.  The  Prince,  Trumkard,  and  the 
Giant  were  each  shown  to  sumptuous  apartments, 
and  that  night  everybody  in  the  palace  had  as 
much  of  everything  good  as  they  could  eat. 

Twelve  o'clock  of  the  next  day  was  the  time  ap 
pointed  for  the  Princess  to  make  trial  of  the  mag 
ical  music.  The  great  hall  of  the  palace  was  fitted 
up  most  magnificently,  and  with  the  utmost  rapid 
ity,  for  this  great  occasion.  The  chairs  of  the 


154  TING-A-LING. 

judges  were  covered  with  new  velvet,  and  nothing 
was  omitted  that  could  add  to  the  regal  splendor 
of  the  hall.  At  half-past  ten  the  doors  were 
opened,  and  the  hall  was  immediately  filled  in 
every  part,  hut  the  small  portion  reserved  for  the 
principal  actors  in  the  ceremony.  There  were  nine 
galleries,  one  above  the  other,  around  this  truly 
immense  room ;  and  when  it  was  all  packed  full 
of  people  from  floor  to  dome,  it  was  a  wonderful 
spectacle  indeed. 

At  ten  minutes  of  twelve,  the  procession  en 
tered  the  great  hall.  First  came,  along  the  cen 
tre  passage,  which  was  covered  with  cloth  of  gold, 
a  number  of  beautiful  boys,  who  strewed  the  way 
with  hyacinths,  and  jasmines,  and  the  costly  blos 
soms  of  the  century  plant.  After  them  were  oth 
ers,  with  golden  water-pots,  who  sprinkled  attar 
of  roses  before  the  Princess,  who,  dressed  in  the 
purest  white  silk,  cut  bias,  and  trimmed  with  pink 
fur,  was  escorted  by  the  Prince.  After  them  came 
the  Prime  Minister  (released  for  the  occasion), 
the  nobles,  etc.,  and  the  procession  was  closed  by 
the  guards  of  the  palace,  all  dressed  in  blue  and 
covered  with  diamonds.  There  was  no  music,  nor 
scarcely  any  sound  whatever,  as  they  moved  to 
ward  the  judges,  who  were  already  sitting  sol- 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  155 

emnly  in  their  chairs.  When  the  procession 
reached  them,  it  halted,  and  the  Princess  was  con 
ducted  to  a  chair  in  front  of  the  music.  Then  the 
youngest  judge  arose,  and  uncovered  the  magical 
music. 

In  all  that  hall,  filled  with  such  a  multitude, 
there  was  breathless  silence.  It  was  so  still  that 
the  little  mice  came  out  of  their  holes,  thinking 
there  was  no  one  there. 

Then  the  Princess,  timidly  raising  her  eyes,  ran 
them  over  the  music,  and  began.  It  commenced 
softly  and  somewhat  sadly,  but  soon,  becoming 
louder  and  richer,  the  tones  swelled  high  and 
clear,  until  the  pure  voice  of  the  Princess  thrilled 
through  all  the  perfumed  air.  Then  it  became 
more  and  more  glorious,  until  its  beatific  beauty 
caused  many  of  the  older  hearers  to  die,  and  go 
straight  to  paradise.  The  close  was  inconceivably 
sweet ;  and  when  the  last  notes  died  away,  the  peo 
ple  bowed  their  heads  in  tearful  peace,  and  all  evil 
left  their  hearts,  and  to  many  of  them  it  never 
returned. 

As  they  raised  their  heads,  they  saw  the  oldest 
judge  arise  and  point  with  his  golden  wand  to  the 
marble  tablet.  The  characters  of  the  music  had 
disappeared,  and  the  vellum  on  which  they  had 


156  TING-A-LING. 

been  written  was  as  white  as  snow.  There  was  no 
need  of  any  further  decision.  The  judges  de 
scended  from  their  chairs  in  profound  silence,  and 
the  oldest  and  the  youngest,  each  taking  the 
Princess  by  the  hand,  led  her  up  the  steps  to  the 
throne,  and  seated  her  upon  it.  Then  the  Prime 
Minister  took  the  crown  from  its  velvet  cushion, 
and  placed  it  on  her  head,  and,  turning  to  the 
people,  said  in  a  voice  which  sounded  in  the  still 
ness  to  all  parts  of  the  vast  building,  "  Behold 
your  Queen  !  " 

Then,  as  one  man,  that  great  multitude  gave 
such  a  sudden,  wild,  tremendous  shout,  that  it 
took  the  roof  right  off  the  top  of  the  house,  and 
the  wood  that  fell  in  every  direction  outside,  was 
enough  to  keep  the  poor  people  in  kindling-wood 
all  winter. 

The  Giant,  whirling  his  iron  helmet  around  his 
head,  now  led  off,  with  a  thundering  "  Hip,  hip, 
hurra !  "  in  three  cheers  for  the  Queen.  And  three 
such  cheers ! 

The  dense  crowd  outside  took  them  up,  and 
shook  the  very  foundations  of  the  city  with  their 
shouts;  and  the  country  people,  and  those  at  a 
great  distance,  heard  the  joyful  sounds,  and  be 
fore  many  minutes  the  whole  country,  for  miles 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC. 


157 


around,   reverberated   with   cheers   for   the   new- 
made  Queen. 

As  for  the  palace,  it  shook  and  trembled  with 
the  thunders  of  applause,  still  led  by  the  Giant, 
who  couldn't  be  stopped.  The  people  about  him 
were  all  struck  deaf  iii  the  ear  nearest  him,  but 


the  ear-doctors  cured  them  all  for  nothing,  when 
they  got  outside,  so  full  of  charity  was  every  one. 
At  last,  when  every  one,  the  Giant  and  all,  were 
hoarse  with  shouting,  the  Prime  Minister  offered 
his  hand  to  the  Queen,  and  led  her  down  from  the 
throne.  Then  she  motioned  to  the  Prince  to  give 


158  TING-A-LING. 

her  his  arm ;  and  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  he 
led  her  to  the  royal  apartments,  at  the  door  of 
which  he  left  her.  The  multitude  then  dispersed, 
and  they  spent  the  rest  of  that  day  in  putting  right 
the  wrongs  they  had  committed,  and  in  making 
provision  for  future  virtue.  When  the  Queen  had 
taken  some  refreshment,  she  put  on  an  every-day 
crown,  and  repaired  to  the  audience  chamber  to 
receive  the  visits  of  the  various  dignitaries  of  the 
kingdom,  who  came  before  her,  and  brought  her 
their  keys,  and  papers,  and  account-books.  Giving 
each  one  back  his  keys,  and  ordering  the  papers 
and  accounts  to  be  deposited  in  a  great  pile  on  one 
side,  where  she  might  look  over  them  at  her 
leisure,  she  reappointed  every  man  to  the  office 
he  held  before,  and  sent  them  away  rejoicing. 
Then  she  called  for  writing  materials  and  slaves, 
and  commenced  writing  notes  to  the  Prince.  She 
would  write  one  on  gilded  vellum,  and,  folding  it, 
would  hand  it  to  the  slave  next  to  her,  who  dipped 
it  in  frankincense,  and  handed  it  to  the  next  one, 
who  sprinkled  it  with  attar  of  roses,  and  passed  it 
to  the  next,  who  ran  with  it  as  hard  as  ever  he 
could  to  the  Prince.  For  in  that  kingdom  it  was 
not  considered  proper  for  lovers  to  visit  much. 
This  performance  the  Queen  kept  up  all  the 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  159 

afternoon,  writing  as  fast  as  she  could,  and  only 
stopping  long  enough  to  read  the  answers  which 
the  slaves  brought  her  as  they  returned.  At  last, 
they  came  back,  bringing  with  them  her  last  notes 
unopened,  saying  that  the  Prince  had  gone  to 
sleep.  At  which  intelligence  she  shed  some  tears, 
but  then,  like  a  sensible  Queen,  had  her  supper, 
and  went  to  bed. 

The  next  day  the  marriage  of  the  Queen  and 
the  Prince  took  place,  and  it  was  a  glorious  affair 
indeed.  Twenty-four  historians  were  appointed  by 
the  Crown  to  write  the  history  of  it ;  they  were 
paid  by  the  quarter,  and  it  took  them  a  long  time, 
I  can  assure  you. 

The  whole  of  the  wedding-day,  the  festivities 
were  kept  up,  and  all  the  eating,  and  drinking,  and 
merry-making,  was  at  the  royal  expense.  During 
the  day  and  night  everybody  spent,  and  gave  away 
to  the  poor,  all  the  wealth  they  possessed,  and  in 
the  morning  it  was  all  paid  back  to  them  by  the 
royal  Treasurer.  In  the  country,  the  people  feasted 
grandly  on  their  own  herds,  and  drank  up  their 
own  wines,  and  they  were  also  reimbursed  by  the 
Crown . 

But  the  great  feature  of  the  royal  marriage  was 
the  decree,  proclaimed  at  noon  of  the  wedding- 


160  TING-A-LING. 

day,  that  all  persons  married  on  that  day  should 
be  set  up  in  housekeeping-,  free  of  expense ! 

Never,  in  the  history  of  that  or  any  other  king 
dom,  were  priests  kept  so  busy  as  those  in  this 
city.  They  worked  as  hard  as  they  could,  but  at 
three  o'clock  they  were  obliged  to  commence  mar 
rying  the  folks  by  squads ;  and  so,  before  supper- 
time,  there  was  not  a  bachelor  or  maid  in  the 
whole  city,  —  excepting  an  old  bobstay  spinner, 
—  one  of  the  Grossest  of  old  maids,  who  hated 
men  so  much  that  she  had  not  spoken  to  one  for 
forty  years  ;  and  a  crabbed  bachelor,  who  despised 
women  so  completely  that  he  never  had  his  clothes 
washed,  because  it  would  have  to  be  done  by  fe 
males. 

At  midnight,  the  priest  Ali-bo-babem  was  called 
out  of  his  bed,  and  found  at  the  door,  desiring  to 
be  married,  the  crabbed  old  bachelor  and  the  cross 
old  maid.  These  two  did  not  live  long,  but  all 
the  rc.st  of  the  people  were  very  happy  for  many 
years. 

About  three  o'clock  of  the  morning  after  the 
great  wedding-day,  the  Giant  Tur-il-i-ra  arrived 
at  his  castle  gate.  He  had  walked  all  the  way 
home,  and  he  felt  in  such  a  good  humor  that  the 
road  never  seemed  so  short  to  him  before.  But, 


THE  MAGICAL  MUSIC.  161 

for  some  reason,  he  could  not  open  the  gate. 
There  seemed  to  be  ail  unusual  number  of  locks 
and  bolts,  and  the  big  key  he  carried  did  not  seem 
to  fit  any  of  the  numerous  key -holes.  He  could 
easily  reach  over  and  undo  the  bolts,  but  the  locks 
were  too  much  for  him ;  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  he 
got  a  little  angry,  and  was  about  to  take  his  club 
and  smash  his  magnificent  gate,  when  his  wife, 
who  had  been  sitting  up  for  him,  and  had  heard 
the  noise  he  had  been  making,  came  down  and 
let  him  in. 

They  went  together  into  the  great  hall,  and 
there  Tur-il-i-ra  sat  down  before  the  fire.  His 
wife,  who  thought  a  great  deal  of  the  good  Giant, 
was  sorry  to  see  that  he  was  silent  and  rather 
grum. 

"  What  makes  you  look  so,  my  dear?"  said  she. 
"  Did  you  not  have  a  good  time  ?  " 

"0  yes,"  said  he,  "good  enough,  —  but  that 
gate  put  me  out.  I  wonder  what's  the  matter 
with  it.  It's  got  to  be  fixed.  I  won't  be  bothered 
and  worried  in  this  way." 

"  It  shall  all  be  made  right  in  the  morning," 
said  his  wife.  "  But  are  you  sure  you  did  not  take 
anything  that  disagreed  with  you  while  you  were 

away?" 

11 


162  TING-A-LING. 

"  Perhaps  I  did,"  said  he.  "  It  might  have 
been  the  mince-pies.  They  told  me  they  were 
temperance  pies,  but  I  don't  believe  it." 

"  How  many  did  you  eat,  my  dear  ?  "  asked  the 
good  Giantess. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know,"  said  her  husband. 
"  About  ten  or  eleven  hundred,  I  suppose." 

"  That  was  too  many  for  you,"  said  his  wife. 
"  And  I  think  you  had  better  go  to  bed,  and  I  will 
bring  you  something  to  make  you  feel  better." 

So  the  Giant  went  to  bed,  and  as  he  slowly  as 
cended  the  stairs,  he  winked  to  himself  with  his 
right  eye.  And  his  wife,  she  went  into  the 
kitchen,  and  winked  to  herself  with  her  left  eye. 

After  a  while  she  came  up  to  the  Giant,  and 
brought  a  barrel  of  hot  chamomile  tea ;  and  when 
he  had  drank  it  all,  she  tucked  him  in,  nice  and 
warm,  and  the  next  morning  he  felt  as  well  as 
ever. 


TING-A-LING'S   VISIT  TO  TUIM-LI-RA. 

ONE  pleasant  sunny  day,  the  Giant  Tur-il-i-ra 
was  lying  on  his  back  on  the  grass,  under  some 
great  trees,  in  a  wood  near  the  palace  of  the  King. 

His  feet  were  high  above  the  rest  of  his  body, 
resting  in  the  crotch  of  a  great  oak-tree,  and  he 
lay  with  his  vest  open  and  his  hat  off,  idly  sucking 
the  pith  from  a  young  sapsago-tree  that  he  had 
just  broken  off.  Near  him,  on  the  top  of  a  tall 
bulrush,  sat  the  little  fairy  Ting-a-ling.  They 
had  been  talking  together  for  some  time,  and  Tur- 
il-i-ra  said,  "  Ting-a-ling,  you  must  come  and  see 
me.  You  have  never  been  to  my  castle  except  when 
you  came  for  the  good  of  somebody  else.  Come 
now  for  yours  and  mine,  and  stay  at  least  a  week. 
We  will  have  a  gay  old  time.  Will  you  come  ?  " 

"  I  will,"  cried  the  little  fairy,  in  a  voice  as 
clear  as  the  chirp  of  a  cricket.  "  I'll  come  when 
ever  you  say  so." 

"  Let  it  be  to-morrow,  then,"  said  the  Giant. 
"Shall  I  fetch  you?" 

"  O  no,"  said  Ting-a-ling;  "  I  will  come  on  my 


164  TING-A-LING. 

blue  butterfly.  You  have  no  idea  how  fast  he  flies. 
I  do  believe  he  could  go  to  your  castle  nearly  as 
fast  as  you  could  yourself." 

"  All  right,"  said  Tur-il-i-ra,  rising.  "  Come  as 
you  please,  but  be  sure  you  come  to  stay." 

Then  the  Giant  got  up,  and  he  shook  himself,  and 
buttoned  his  vest,  and  put  on  his  hat ;  and  as  he 
had  thin  boots  on,  he  told  Ting-a-ling  he  was 
going  to  see  if  he  couldn't  take  the  river  at  one 
jump.  So,  tightening  his  belt,  and  going  back  for 
a  good  run,  he  rushed  to  the  river  bank,  and  with 
a  spring  like  the  jerk  of  five  mad  elephants,  he 
bounded  across.  But  the  opposite  bank  was  not 
hard  enough  to  resist  the  tremendous  fall  of  so 
many  tons  of  giant  as  came  upon  it  when  Tur-il-i- 
ra's  feet  touched  its  edge  ;  and  it  gave  way,  and  his 
feet  went  up  and  his  back  came  down,  and  into  the 
river,  like  a  ship  dropping  out  of  the  sky,  went  the 
mighty  Giant.  The  splash  was  so  great  that  the 
whole  air,  for  a  minute  or  two,  was  full  of  water 
and  spray,  and  Ting'-a-ling  could  see  nothing  at 
all.  When  things  had  become  visible  again,  there 
was  Tur-il-i-ra  standing  up  to  the  middle  of  his 
thighs  in  the  channel  of  the  river,  and  brushing 
from  his  eyes  and  his  nose  the  water  that  trickled 
from  him  like  little  brooks. 


TING-A-LING'S   VISIT  TO  TUR-IL-I-RA.       165 

"  Hel-1-o-o-o ! "  cried  Ting-a-ling.  "  Are  you 
hurt?" 

"  O  no  !  "  spluttered  the  Giant.  "  The  water 
and  the  mud  were  soft  enough,  but  I'm  nearly 
blinded  and  choked.  " 

"  It's  a  good  thing  it  isn't  worse,"  cried  the  fairy. 
"  If  that  river  had  not  been  so  broad,  you  would 
have  broken  your  neck  when  you  came  down." 

"  Good-by  !  "  cried  the  Giant,  stepping  upon  the 
bank  ;  "I  must  hurry  home  as  fast  as  I  can."  And 
so  away  he  went  over  the  hills  at  a  run,  and  you 
may  vest  assured  that  he  did  not  jump  any  more 
rivers  that  day. 

The  next  morning  early,  Ting-a-ling  mounted 
his  blue  butterfly,  and  over  the  fields  he  went  al 
most  as  fast  as  a  bird,  for  his  was  a  butterfly  of  the 
desert,  where  they  have  to  fly  very  far  for  anything 
to  eat,  and  to  race  for  it  very  often  at  that.  Ting- 
a-ling  took  nothing  with  him  but  what  he  wore, 
but  his  "  things  "  and  his  best  clothes  were  to  be 
sent  after  him  on  a  beetle,  which,  though  slow,  was 
very  strong,  and  could  have  carried,  if  he  chose, 
everything  that  Ting-a-ling  had.  About  sunset, 
the  fairy  and  the  butterfly,  the  latter  very  tired, 
arrived  at  the  castle  of  Tur-il-i-ra,  and  there,  at  the 
great  door,  stood  the  Giant,  expecting  them,  with 


106  TING-A-LING. 

his  face  beaming  with  hospitality  and  delight.  He 
had  had  his  slaves,  for  the  whole  afternoon,  scat 
tered  along  the  road  by  which  his  visitor  would 
come ;  and  they  were  commanded  to  keep  a  sharp 
lookout  for  a  blue  butterfly,  and  pass  the  word  to 
the  castle  when  they  saw  it  coming.  So  Tur-il-i-ra 
was  all  ready ;  and  as  he  held  out  his  finger,  the 
butterfly  was  glad  enough  to  fly  up  and  light  upon 
it.  The  good  Giant  took  them  botli  into  the  house, 
and  the  butterfly  was  put  on  a  top- shelf,  where 
there  were  some  honey-jars,  and  if  he  didn't  eat ! 

Supper  was  all  ready,  and  Tur-il-i-ra  sat  down  to 
the  table  on  a  chair  which  was  bigger  than  some 
houses,  while  Ting-a-ling  sat  cross-legged  on  a 
napkin,  opposite  to  him.  The  Giant  had  everything 
nice.  There  was  a  pair  of  roast  oxen,  besides  a 
small  boiled  whale,  and  a  great  plate  of  fricasseed 
elks.  As  for  vegetables,  there  were  boat-loads  of 
mashed  potatoes,  and  turnips,  and  beans ;  and  there 
was  a  pie  which  was  as  big  as  a  small  back -yard. 
The  Giant  had  a  splendid  appetite,  and  before  sup 
per  was  over  he  had  eaten  up  most  of  these  things. 
As  for  little  Ting-a-ling,  he  had  only  got  half  way 
through  his  third  grain  of  boiled  rice,  when  the 
Giant  was  done.  But  he  could  eat  no  more ;  and 
after  scooping  up  about  a  drop  of  wine  in  a  little 


TING-A-LING'S  VISIT  TO  TUR-IL-I-TCA.        167 

cup  he  carried  with  him,  he  drank  the  health  of 
Tur-il-i-ra,  and  then  they  went  out  on  the  front 
porch,  where  the  Giant  ordered  his  big  pipe  to  be 
brought,  and  he  had  a  smoke.  When  Tur-il-i-ra 
had  finished  his  pipe,  and  Ting-a-ling  had  nearly 
sneezed  himself  to  death,  and  the  whole  atmos 
phere,  for  about  a  mile  around  the  castle,  was 
foggy  with  smoke,  they  went  in  to  bed. 

Tur-il-i-ra  took  Tiug-a-ling  up-stairs,  and  showed 
him  where  he  was  to  sleep;  and  then  putting  him 
down  on  the  bed,  he  bade  him  good-night,  and 
went  out  and  shut  the  door  after  him. 

Tiug-a-ling  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  bed  and 
looked  about  him.  It  was  as  if  he  was  in  the  midst 
of  a  great  plain.  The  bed  was  a  double  one,  that 
had  belonged  to  the  Giant's  father  and  mother,  and 
he  had  given  it  to  Ting-a-ling  because  it  was  the 
best  in  the  house.  The  little  fairy  was  delighted 
with  this  bed,  which  was  very  smooth,  and  covered 
with  a  great  white  counterpane.  He  ran  from  one 
end  to  the  other  of  it,  and  he  turned  heels-over 
head,  and  walked  on  his  hands,  and  amused  him 
self  iu  this  way  until  he  was  thoroughly  tired.  Then 
he  lay  right  down  in  the  very  middle,  and  went  to 
sleep.  I  would  like  to  have  a  picture  of  Ting-a- 
ling  in  the  Giant's  bed,  but  any  one  can  draw  it  so 


168  TING-A-LING. 

easily  for  himself,  that  it  is  of  110  use  to  have  it  here. 
All  that  is  necessary  is  to  take  a  large  sheet  of 
white  paper,  —  the  largest  you  can  get,  —  and  in 
the  centre  of  it  make  a  small  dot,  —  the  smallest 
you  can  make,  —  and  there  you  have  the  picture. 

It  must  have  been  nearly  morning  when  Ting-a- 
ling  was  awakened  by  a  tremendous  knocking  at 
the  front-door  of  the  castle.  The  first  thought  he 
had  was  that  perhaps  there  were  his  things  !  But 
he  forgot  that  a  very  small,  and  probably  tired-out 
fairy  (for  Parsley's  younger  brother  was  to  come 
with  the  baggage),  in  charge  of  a  beetle  in  the 
same  condition,  could  hardly  make  such  a  thunder 
ing  noise  as  that.  But  he  jumped  up  and  slid 
down  on  the  floor,  and  as  his  room  was  a  front  one, 
he  went  to  the  window,  and  climbing  up  the  cur 
tains,  got  outside  and  looked  down.  There,  in  the 
moonlight,  he  saw  an  ordinary  sized  man  on  horse 
back,  directing  about  a  dozen  black  slaves,  who  had 
hold  of  a  long  rope,  which  they  had  tied  to  the 
knocker  of  Tur-il-i-ra's  door.  They  were  all  pull 
ing  away  at  it  as  hard  as  they  could  (and  a  mighty 
pounding  they  made  too),  when  the  Giant  put  his 
head  out  of  his  window,  and  asked  what  all  this 
noise  meant. 

"  0  good  Tur-il-i-ra ! "  cried   the  man  on   the 


TING-A-LING'S  VISIT  TO  TUR-IL-I-RA.      171 

horse,  "  I  have  ridden  for  several  days  "  (he  said 
nothing  about  his  slaves  having-  run  all  the  way) 
"  to  come  to  you,  and  tell  you  that  the  Kyrofatal- 
apynx  is  loose." 

"  What !  "  cried  Tur-il-i-ra,  in  a  voice  like  the 
explosion  of  a  powder  magazine.  "  Loose  !  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  man.  "  He's  been  loose  for 
four  days." 

The  Giant  pulled  in  his  head,  and  Tiug-a-ling 
could  hear  him  hurrying  down-stairs  to  open  the 
great  door.  The  man  came  in  and  all  the  slaves, 
and  as  a  good  many  of  Tur-il-i-ra's  people  were  up 
by  this  time,  there  was  a  great  hubbub  of  voices  in 
the  lower  hall;  but  though  Ting-a-ling  listened  up 
by  the  banisters  until  the  cold  wind  on  the  staircase 
had  nearly  frozen  his  little  bare  legs  (which  were 
not  much  longer  than  your  finger-nail,  and  about 
as  thick  as  a  big  darning-needle),  he  could  make 
out  nothing  at  all  of  the  talk.  So  he  went  back  to 
the  bed,  and  got  in  under  the  edge  of  the  counter 
pane,  and  lay  there,  with  just  his  head  sticking 
out,  until  he  dropped  asleep.  At  daybreak  Tur-il- 
i-ra  came  into  the  room,  and  stooping  over  the  bed, 
called  to  him  to  get  up,  as  there  was  to  be  an  early 
breakfast.  As  the  Giant  carried  him  down-stairs 
on  his  finger,  he  told  the  fairy  that  he  was  deeply 


172  TING-A-LING. 

grieved,  but  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  leave  him 
for  the  rest  of  the  day,  on  account  of  the  Kyrofatal- 
apynx  having  broken  loose. 

"  But  what  is  that?  "  asked  Ting-a-ling. 

"  Why,  don't  you  know?  It  is  a —  Look  here, 
you  fellows  !  Didn't  I  tell  you  that  breakfast  was 
to  be  all  ready  when  I  came  down  ?  What  do  you 
mean,  you  lazy  rascals?  Skip,  now,  and  have  every 
thing  ready  this  minute." 

And  the  men  skipped,  and  the  cooks  cooked,  and 
the  fires  blazed,  and  the  pots  boiled  and  bubbled, 
and  the  Giant  sat  down  in  a  great  hurry,  with  the 
man  who  came  on  horseback  sitting  cross-legged 
on  one  side  of  the  table,  and  Ting-a-ling  on  the 
other.  So  he  forgot  to  finish  his  sentence  about  the 
Kyrofatalapyiix.  During  the  meal  there  was  noth 
ing  but  noise  and  confusion,  and  Ting-a-ling  could 
not  get  in  a  word.  The  Giant  had  a  dish  of  broiled 
sheep  before  him,  and  he  was  crunching  them  up 
as  fast  as  he  could,  and  talking,  with  his  mouth 
full,  to  the  man  all  the  time ;  and  the  slaves  and 
the  servants  were  all  eating  and  drinking,  and 
running  about,  until  there  was  no  hearing  one's 
own  voice,  unless  it  was  a  very  big  one.  So,  al 
though  Ting-a-lmg  was  dying  of  curiosity  to  know 
what  the  Kyrofatalapyux  was,  he  could  not  get  an 
answer  from  any  one. 


TING-A-LING'S  VISIT  TO  TUR-IL-I-RA.      173 

As  soon  as  the  Giant  was  done  eating,  he  jumped 
up,  and  shouted  for  his  hat  and  his  boots;  and 
if  the  men  did  not  run  fast  enough,  he  shouted 
at  them  all  the  louder.  If  Ting-a-ling  had  not 
stayed  on  the  table,  I  don't  know  what  would 
have  become  of  him  in  the  confusion.  The  Giant 
had  now  pushed  off  his  slippers,  and  was  waiting 
until  the  men  should  bring  his  boots ;  and  as  one 
lazy  fellow  was  poking  around,  as  if  he  was  half 
asleep,  Tur-il-i-ra  was  so  irritated  at  his  slowness 
that  he  slipped  the  toe  of  his  stockinged  foot  under 
him,  and  gave  him  a  tremendous  send  right  out 
of  the  door,  and  he  went  flying  over  the  trees  at 
the  bottom  of  the  lawn,  and  over  the  barley-field 
on  the  other  side  of  the  ditch,  and  over  the  pas 
ture,  where  the  cows  were  kept,  and  over  the  pom 
egranate  orchard,  and  over  the  palm-grove  by  the 
little  lake,  and  over  Hassan  ab  Kolyar's  cottage, 
right  smack  down  into  the  soft  marsh,  back  of  the 
sunflower  garden ;  and  he  didn't  get  back  to  the 
castle  until  his  master  had  been  gone  an  hour. 
As  the  Giant  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  table,  pulling 
on  his  boots,  he  told  Ting-a-ling  that  he  must 
make  himself  as  comfortable  as  possible  until  he 
came  back,  and  that  he  would  not  be  gone  longer 
than  he  could  possibly  help.  But  although  the 


174  TING-A-LING. 

fairy  asked  him  again  and  again  to  tell  him  what 
the  Kyrofatalapyux  was,  he  never  seemed  to  hear 
him,  so  busy  was  he,  talking  to  everybody  at  once. 
Now  Tur-il-i-ra  was  nearly  ready  to  go,  and  Ting- 
a-ling  was  standing  close  to  the  fringe  on  his 
scarf,  which  lay  over  one  end  of  the  table. 


"  How  I  should  like  to  go  with  him,"  said  the 
little  fairy,  and  he  took  hold  of  the  fringe.  "  But 
he  doesn't  want  me,  or  he  would  take  me  along. 
I  would  ask  him,  if  he  would  only  be  quiet  a  min 
ute  "  — 

Just  then  up  jumped  the  Giant ;  and  as  Ting-a- 


TING-A-LING'S  VISIT  TO  TUE-IL-I-RA.       175 

ling  had  not  let  go  of  the  fringe,  he  was  jerked  up 
too.  He  held  on  bravely ;  and  as  he  did  not  wish 
to  swing  about  on  the  scarf,  he  climbed  up  to  the 
Giant's  shoulder,  and  took  tight  hold  of  his  long 
hair.  With  the  man  and  his  slaves  in  a  large 
round  basket  in  one  hand,  and  his  great  club  in 
the  other,  away  went  Tur-il-i-ra,  with  strides 
longer  than  across  the  street,  and  he  walked  so 
fast,  that  Ting-a-ling  had  to  hold  on  tight,  to 
keep  from  being  blown  away. 

About  noon  they  came  to  a  large  palace,  sur 
rounded  by  smaller  dwellings ;  and  on  the  porch 
of  the  palace  there  stood  a  King  and  a  Queen  and 
three  princesses,  and  they  were  all  crying.  On  the 
steps,  in  the  grounds  and  gardens,  and  everywhere, 
were  the  lords  and  ladies,  and  common  people, 
and  they  were  all  crying  too.  When  these  discon 
solate  people  saw  the  Giant  approaching,  they  set 
up  a  great  shout  of  joy,  and  rushed  to  meet  him, 
calling  out,  "  0,  the  Kyrofatalapynx  has  broken 
loose !  " 

Tur-il-i-ra  went  up  to  the  palace,  and  sat  down 
on  the  great  portico,  with  his  feet  on  the  ground, 
and  the  people  told  him  (all  speaking  at  once,  and 
not  having  even  manners  enough  to  let  the  King 
have  the  first  say)  that  the  Kyrofatalapynx  had 


176  TING-A-LING. 

grown  awfully  strong  and  savage  since  the  Giant 
had  tied  him  up,  and  that  he  had  at  last  broken 
loose,  and  was  now  ravaging  the  country.  He  had 
carried  off  ever  so  many  camels,  and  horses,  and 
sheep,  and  oxen,  and  had  threatened  to  eat  up 
every  person  in  those  parts,  who  was  under  age. 
But  since  he  had  found  out  that  they  had  sent  for 
Tur-il-i-ra,  he  had  gone  into  the  forest,  and  they 
knew  not  when  he  would  come  forth.  Then  up 
spoke  a  woodman  above  all  the  clamor,  and  he  said 
he  knew  when  he  would  come  out,  for  he  had  been 
in  the  forest  that  morning,  and  had  stumbled  on 
the  Kyrofatalapynx,  which  was  so  busy  making 
something  that  he  did  not  see  him  ;  and  he  heard 
him  mutter  to  himself,  over  and  over  again, 
"When  he  comes,  I'll  rush  out  and  finish  him, 
and  then  I'll  be  head  of  them  all. " 

"  All  right,  "  cried  Tur-il-i-ra.  "  I'll  wait  down 
there  by  the  edge  of  the  forest ;  and  when  he  sees 
me,  he  can  rush  out,  and  then  you  will  all  soon 
know  who  will  be  finished.  " 

So  the  Giant  went  over  to  the  wood,  and  sat 
down  and  waited.  After  a  while,  he  got  very  sleepy, 
and  he  thought  he  would  take  a  little  nap  until 
the  Kyrofatalapynx  should  come.  In  order  that 
the  people  might  wake  him  up  in  time,  he  tied  a 


TING-A-LIXG'S   VISIT  TO   TUR-IL-I-RA.       177 

long  rope  to  one  of  bis  ear-rings  (his  eyes  had 
been  a  little  weak  in  his  youth ),  and  everybody 
took  hold  of  the  end  of  the  rope,  and  they  prom 
ised  to  pull  good  and  hard  when  they  heard  the 
trees  crushing  in  the  forest.  So  the  Giant  went  to 
sleep,  and  the  people  all  listened  for  the  Kyrofa- 
talapynx,  —  holding  their  breaths,  and  standing 
ready  to  jerk  the  rope  when  he  should  come. 

Poor  little  Ting-a-ling  was  nearly  consumed 
with  curiosity.  What  was  the  Kyrol'atalapyux  ? 
He  slipped  down  to  the  ground  without  being 
noticed  by  anybody;  and,  as  they  all  seemed  so 
intent  listening  and  watching,  he  felt  afraid  to 
speak  to  any  of  them.  Directly  a  happy  thought 
struck  him. 

"  I  will  go  into  the  wood  myself.  Whatever 
the  Kyfymytaly-gyby  is,  he  won't  be  likely  to  see 
me,  and  I  can  run  and  tell  Tur-il-i-ra  where  he 
is,  before  he  comes  out  of  the  wood." 

So  away  he  went,  and  soon  was  deep  in  the 
darkness  of  the  forest.  But  he  could  hear  no 
noise,  and  saw  nothing  that  appeared  to  have 
life.  Even  the  very  birds  and  insects  seemed  to 
have  flown  away.  After  wandering  some  distance, 
he  suddenly  met  a  fairy,  a  little  bit  of  a  fellow, 
but  somewhat  larger  than  himself,  and  entirely 

12 


178  TING-A-LING. 

green.  Ting-a-ling  spoke  to  him,  and  told  him 
what  he  was  after, 

"  That  isn't  exactly  his  name,"  said  the  green 
fairy,  politely,  "but  I  know  what  you  mean.  If 
you  come  this  way,  I  can  show  him  to  you." 

So  Ting-a-ling  followed  him,  and  presently  they 
came  to  the  edge  of  an  opening  in  the  middle  of 
the  forest ;  and  there,  sure  enough,  was  the  Kyro- 
fatalapynx.  With  one  of  his  great  red  tails  coiled 
around  an  immense  oak-tree,  and  the  other  around 
a  huge  rock,  he  sat  with  his  elephantine  legs 
gathered  up  under  him,  as  if  he  were  about  to 
spring  over  the  tree-tops.  But  he  had  no  such 
idea.  In  his  great  hands,  as  big  as  travelling- 
trunks,  he  held  a  long  iron  bar,  one  end  of  which 
he  was  sharpening  against  a  stone.  By  his  side 
lay  an  immense  bow,  made  of  a  tall  young  yew- 
tree,  and  the  cord  was  a  long  and  tough  grape 
vine.  As  he  sat  sharpening  this  great  arrow,  he 
grinned  until  his  horrid  teeth  looked  like  a  pale- 
fence  around  a  little  garden,  and  he  muttered  to 
himself  as  he  worked  away,  —  "  Four  hundred  and 
nine  more  rubs,  and  I  can  send  it  twang  through 
him  ;  twang,  twang,  twang!  " 

"  Isn't  he  horrid  ?  "  whispered  Ting-a-ling. 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said    the  green  fairy.     "When 


TING-A-LING'S  VISIT  TO  TUK-IL-I-RA.       179 

lie  was  young,  he  came  out  of  the  mouth  of  a 
volcano ;  and  the  King  here,  who  is  very  fond  of 
wonderful  things,  got  Tur-il-i-ra  to  catch  him, 
and  chain  him  up  for  him  in  a  great  yard  he  had 
made  for  him.  But  now  that  he  is  grown  up,  no 
chains  can  hold  him,  and  I  expect  he  will  kill  the 
Giant  with  that  great  iron  arrow,  before  he  can 
come  near  him." 

"  0  !  "  cried  Tiug-a-ling,  "  he  mustn't  do  that. 
We  must  never  let  him  do  that !  " 

"  We !  "  said  the  fairy,  in  a  voice  of  astonish 
ment. 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  mean  us.  0,  what  shall  we  do  ? 
Let's  cut  his  bowstring,"  said  Ting-a-ling,  in  great 
excitement,  and  drawing  his  little  sword.  The 
green  fairy,  although  polite,  could  not  help  laugh 
ing  at  this  idea ;  but  Ting-a-ling  slipped  softly  to 
where  the  bow  was  lying,  a  little  behind  the 
Kyrofatalapynx,  and  commenced  to  cut  away  at  it; 
but  although  the  green  fairy  took  the  sword  when 
he  was  tired,  they  could  make  but  little  impres 
sion  on  the  stout  grape-vine,  nearly  as  thick  as 
they  were  high. 

"  Let's  nick  the  sword,"  said  Ting-a-ling,  "  and 
then  it  will  be  a  saw."  And  so,  with  a  sharp  lit 
tle  flint,  they  nicked  the  edge  of  it,  and  the  edge 


1*0  TING-A-LING. 

of  the  green  fairy's  knife  (for  he  had  no  sword), 
and  as  they  commenced  to  saw  away  as  hard  as 
they  could  at  the  grape-vine,  they  heard  the 
Kyrofatalapynx  muttering,  "  Only  three  hundred 
and  seven  more  rubs,  and  then  —  twang,  twang, 
twang ! " 

They  worked  like  little  heroes  now ;  and  as 
the  fairy's  sword  was  of  the  sharpest  steel,  they 
cut  a  good  way  into  the  vine ;  hut  just  when 
they  were  nearly  tired  out,  they  heard  the  words, 
—  "  Ninety-three  more  rubs,  and  —  twang,  twang, 
twang ! " 

"  O,  let's  saw,  let's  saw,"  cried  Ting-a-ling  (and 
it's  a  wonder  the  Kyrofatalapynx  did  not  hear 
him),  and  they  worked  as  hard  as  they  did  at 
first. 

"  Six  more  rubs,  and  —  twang,  twang,  twang  !  " 
cried  the  Kyrofatalapynx,  and  the  two  little  fairies 
fell  down  exhausted  and  disheartened.  The  vine 
was  cut  but  little  more  than  half  through. 

Up  rose  the  mighty  creature ;  and  with  his 
bow  and  arrow  in  his  hands,  he  pushed  quietly 
through  the  wood.  The  two  fairies  jumped  up 
in  a  few  minutes,  and  hurried  after  him ;  and  as 
he  went  very  slowly,  so  as  not  to  be  perceived, 
they  reached  the  edge  of  the  wood  just  as  he 
crashed  out  into  the  open  field. 


TING-A-LING'S  VISIT  TO  TUR-II^I-RA.       181 

"  0  ! ! !  "  shouted  all  the  people,  and  they  pulled 
the  rope  with  a  terrible  jerk.  Up  sprang  the 
Giant,  but  there  stood  the  Kyrofatalapynx,  with 
his  long  iron  arrow  already  fitted  into  his  bow. 
"  Ha,  ha  !  "  he  cried,  "  I  shall  put  it  through  you 
—  twang  !  "  And  he  drew  his  arrow  to  its  very 
head,  and  all  the  people  fell  down  on  their  faces, 
and  even  Tur-il-i-ra  turned  a  little  pale.  But 
snap !  went  the  bowstring,  and  down  fell  the 
arrow  !  Then  up  rushed  the  Giant,  and  with  one 
crushing  blow  of  his  rock-knobbed  club,  he  laid 
the  Kyrofatalapynx  stone-dead ! 

The  King,  and  the  Queen,  and  the  princesses, 
and  all  the  people,  jumped  up,  and  in  their  wild 
joy  they  would  have  kissed  the  clothes  off  the 
good  Giant,  had  he  been  willing  to  wait. 

"  All  right !  "  he  cried  ;  "  I  must  be  off.  I've 
a  friend  at  home  waiting  for  me.  No  thanks. 
You  can  stuff  him  now.  Good-by  !  " 

And  away  he  went,  and  poor  little  Ting-a-ling 
was  left  behind ! 

When  he  saw  the  Giant  walking  away  like  a 
steam-engine  on  stilts,  Ting-a-ling  began  to  cry. 

"  Did  you  come  with  him  ? "  said  the  green 
fairy.  "  Well,  he's  gone,  and  you  can  live  with 
me  now." 


]  82  TING-A-LING 

But  Ting-a-ling  was  so  overcome  with  sorrow, 
and  begged  so  hard  that  his  new  friend  should 
tell  him  of  some  way  to  follow  the  Giant,  that 
the  latter,  after  thinking  a  while,  took  him  up 
into  the  King's  pigeon-house.  Warning  him  to 
be  careful  not  to  let  any  of  the  birds  pick  him 
up,  the  green  fairy  pointed  out  a  gray  pigeon  to 
Ting-a-ling. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  if  we  can  get  a  string  around 
the  middle  feather  of  his  tail,  we  are  all  right." 

"  How  so  ?  "  asked  Ting-a-ling. 

"  Why,  then  you  get  on,  and  start  him  off,  and 
by  pulling  the  string  you  can  make  him  go  any 
way  you  wish ;  for  you  know  he  steers  himself 
with  his  tail." 

"  Good ! "  cried  Ting-a-ling,  and  they  both 
looked  for  a  string.  When  they  had  found  one, 
they  stole  up  to  the  pigeon,  who  was  eating  corn, 
and  tied  it  fast  to  the  middle  feather  of  his  tail, 
without  his  knowing  anything  about  it. 

"  Now  jump  on  and  I'll  start  him  off,"  said  the 
green  fairy;  and  Ting-a-ling  ran  up  the  pigeon's 
tail  (which  almost  touched  the  floor),  and  took  bis 
seat  on  its  back,  holding  tight  on  to  its  feathers. 
Then  the  green  fairy  ran  around  by  the  pigeon's 
head,  and  shouted  in  its  ear,  as  it  was  pecking 
corn,  —  "  Hawk  !  " 


TING-A-LING'S  VISIT  TO  TUR-IL-I-EA.       183 

The  bird  just  lifted  up  its  head,  and  gave  one 
shoot  right  out  of  the  window  of  the  pigeon-house. 
It  went  high  up  into  the  air;  and  Ting-a-ling, 
when  he  looked  around  and  saw  which  way  he 
ought  to  go,  pulled  his  string  this  way  and  that 
way,  and  he  found  that  he  could  steer  the  pigeon 
very  well,  and  even  make  him  keep  up  in  the  air, 
bj  pulling  his  tail-feather  straight  up.  So  on 
they  went,  and  they  got  to  the  Giant's  castle 
before  the  Giant  himself.  The  pigeon  flew  over 
the  castle,  but  Ting-a-ling  steered  him  back 
again,  and  backward  and  forward,  two  or  three 
times,  until  the  bird  thought  he  might  as  well 
stop  there ;  and  so  he  alighted  on  the  roof,  and 
off  jumped  Ting-a-ling.  The  first  thing  he  saw 
there,  after  the  pigeon  had  flown  away  again, 
was  the  green  fairy  ! 

"Why,  where  did  you  come  from?  "  cried  Ting- 
a-ling. 

"  O,"  said  the  other,  laughing,  and  jumping  up 
and  down,  "  I  thought  I'd  come  too,  and  I  hung 
on  to  his  leg.  It  was  nice,  sitting  up  among  his 
warm  feathers,  when  his  legs  were  curled  up 
under  him ;  a  great  deal  better  than  being  on 
top." 

Ting-a-ling  was  very  glad  to  have   his  friend 


184  TING-A-LING. 

with  him,  and  he  took  him  down-stairs.  When 
the  Giant  got  home,  there  they  were,  both  in  the 
middle  of  the  table  in  the  great  hall,  ready  to 
welcome  him.  Tur-il-i-ra  did  not  ask  where  the 
green  fairy  came  from;  but  he  was  glad  to  see 
him,  and  he  ordered  supper  to  be  laid  on  a  table 
out  on  the  lawn  ;  for  he  was  warm  with  his  long 
walk.  After  supper,  the  two  fairies  came  down 
to  the  Giant's  end  of  the  table,  and  he  told  them 
all  that  had  happened,  and  how  fortunate  it  was 
that  the  bowstring  of  the  Kyrofatalapynx  had 
broken. 

"  He  did  it ! "  cried  the  green  fairy,  pointing 
to  Ting-a-ling;  and  then  he  told  the  whole  story 
of  their  doings,  and  Ting-a-ling  had  to  explain 
how  he  had  gone  with  the  Giant.  Tur-il-i-ra  lis 
tened  until  they  had  quite  finished,  and  then 
exclaimed,  "  Well !  I  never  saw  such  a  little  thing 
as  you  are,  Ting-a-ling,  for  being  in  the  right 
place  at  the  right  time.  Never,  never  !  "  And 
he  brought  his  hand  down  on  the  table  with  such 
an  emphatic  bang,  that  Ting-a-ling  and  the  green 
fairy  shot  into  the  air  like  rifle-balls.  Ting-a- 
ling  went  up,  up,  and  up,  until  a  high  wind  took 
him,  and  it  blew  him  over  a  river,  and  a  wood, 
and  a  high  hill,  and  a  wide  plain ;  and  then  he 


TING-A-LING'S   VISIT  TO  TUB-IL-I-RA.       185 

fell  down,  down,  down,  —  right  into  the  middle 
of  a  soft  powder  puff-ball,  with  which  a  lady  was 
powdering  her  neck. 

"  Mercy  on  us  !  "  cried  the  lady,  when  she  saw 
a  little  fairy  in  the  puff-ball  that  she  was  just 
going  to  put  up  to  her  throat. 


"  It's  only  I,  Nerralina,"  cried  Ting-a-ling, 
who  immediately  recognized  her ;  "  wait  a  min 
ute,  until  I  get  my  breath." 

Sure  enough,  it  was  Nerralina,  the  Princess's 
lady,  who  had  been  on  a  visit  to  her  mother,  in  a 
distant  country,  and  returning,  had  ordered  her 
slaves  to  pitch  her  tent  where  she  now  was,  about 


186  TING-A-LING. 

half  a  day's  journey  from  the  palace.  Tiug-a- 
ling  told  his  story,  and  they  had  a  nice  time,  talk 
ing  of  their  past  adventures ;  and  in  the  morning 
Nerraliua  took  Ting-a-ling  with  her  to  his  home 
in  the  palace  gardens. 

As  to  the  green  fairy,  he  came  down  in  a  spi 
der  weh.  When  he  got  out  and  stood  on  the 
grass,  he  said,  "  I  shall  not  go  back  to  that  Giant. 
He  is  good,  hut  he  is  too  violent." 

So  he  went  to  the  river  and  got  a  nice  chip, 
and  he  loaded  it  with  honeysuckles  and  clover 
blossoms,  and  pushed  it  off  into  the  stream ;  he 
then  lay  down  on  his  back  in  the  middle  of  his 
clover,  and,  sucking  a  honeysuckle,  floated  away 
in  the  moonlight,  down  to  his  home,  where  he 
arrived  in  two  or  three  days,  just  as  his  honey 
suckles  were  all  gone. 

When  Tur-il-i-ra  saw  what  he  had  done,  he  was 
in  great  trouble  indeed.  He  ordered  all  his  slaves 
to  bring  their  little  children,  and  he  gathered  up 
great  handfuls  of  them,  and  spread  them  out  all 
over  the  grass,  so  that  they  might  look  for  the  two 
lost  fairies.  But  of  course  they  could  not  find 
them ;  and  just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  and  the 
Giant  was  going  to  bed  in  despair,  there  came  a 
horseman  from  Nerralina,  telling  him  that  Ting- 


TING-A-LING'S  VISIT  TO  TUR-IL-I-RA.       187 

a-ling-  was  safe,  and  was  going  home  with  her. 
Early  in  the  morning  Tnr-il-i-ra  went  to  the 
palace  gardens,  and  Ting-a-ling  seeing  him,  they 
went  down  to  the  wood  where  they  were  when 
this  story  opened.  Tur-il-i-ra  wanted  Tiug-a-ling 
to  go  back  and  finish  his  visit. 

"  No,"  said  the  fairy.  "  I  like  you  very  much 
indeed,  hut  I'm  afraid  I'm  most  too  little  for  your 
house." 

"Perhaps  that's  true,"  said  the  Giant;  "and 
when  you  want  to  see  them,  there  are  so  many 
good  people  here  in  the  palace.  I  am  sure  I  like 
common  human  heings  very  much,  and  I  would 
wish  to  he  with  them  always,  if  they  were  not  so 
little." 

"  I  like  them  too,"  said  Ting-a-ling,  "  and 
would  live  with  them  all  the  time,  if  they  were 
not  so  big." 


DATE  DUE 


GAYLORD 


